The Adventure Saga: The Reality of Serenity
by Amy47101
Summary: "Serena felt everything around her shatter. Everything she was told... her life... her memories... all of it was a lie?" Serena was used to jumping from region to region due to her mothers work. With a Kalos, however, she finally felt as if she was 'at home'. But hidden within her past is a dark secret... A secret that may just explain everything inexplainable in her life.
1. Seré

**So, after the Leaf Green story, I was inspired to write this. NOTE THAT THIS TAKES FIVE YEARS AFTER ****_THE BEGINNING WITH LEAF GREEN_****. Yes, five years. There is a reason for that, and not the whole Team Rocket in Johto and Team Plasma in Unova thing. Those are two completely separate stories. Basically, it goes like this:**

**LeafGreen and Emerald run side-by-side.**

**Then a year passes, and Platinum after these two.**

**The two years and SoulSilver. **

**Then Black and White.**

**Two years, Black and White 2.**

**And right after Black and White 2, we have X and Y.**

**And, YES, this is a half-assed sequel to ****_The Beginning with Leaf Green._**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga;_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

"_You and I were born  
Right here in the same world.  
For this one brief life,  
We're beneath the same sky._

_The great flow of time,  
The wide expanse of space.  
We are lucky enough  
to share this lifetime we get."_

Serena paused her piano playing as she desperately tried to remember the next verse of the lullaby that she swore she's known since forever, but can't quite remember the lyrics.

Shaking her head, she got up, and dug through the drawers, pulling out her socks and changing out of her baby pink sleepwear. She continued to pull her red and black dress over her head, smoothing out any wrinkles, and then pulling on her thigh-high black socks. Finally, she grabbed her pink felt hat, white sunglasses balancing on the brim, and placed it on her head. She slowly walked down the stairs and into her living room, where her mother, Grace the famed Rhyhorn racer of Hoenn, stood in the kitchen, cooking up a storm in the newly furnished kitchen.

"Ah, Serena, you're awake!" her mother exclaimed as she came downstairs. "I heard you singing. Beautiful as always!" she smiled at her daughter, watching as she struggled to tie the ends of her long honey colored hair into a small ponytail. She rolled her eyes, and reached around her fifteen year old daughter to tie the elastic band tight. Serena smiled gratefully at her mother, and turned to her hightops sitting neatly by the door. "Anyways, you should head outside and greet the neighbors!"

"Wha-?" Serena asked while she was in the middle of pulling on her second hightop. Her mom merely chuckled, shoved her pink purse into her hands, and pushed her out the door. Serena stumbled out somewhat painfully onto her behind, her loose shoe flying into the air and landing smack dab in the middle of her forehead. "Ow..." she mumbled, moving the sneaker from her face.

"Talk about a spectacular fall!" a male voice exclaimed overhead. She cracked open her eyes and instantly saw a pair of gray eyes that rivaled her own.

"D-Did you see that?!" she exclaimed in embarrassment, face going red. Jolting up and away from the boy. Said male shrugged while a female behind him giggled. "St-Stop laughing!"

As she started pulling on the other hightop, she took in the details of her two new neighbors that now stood in her front yard. The male seemed to be a year older than her and had brown chin length hair. He was wearing a blue jacket accented with white and the typical blue jeans. He wore gray hiking boots with blue laces on his feet, and had a black messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

The girl was a huge contrast to the male. She looked to be a little younger than Serena with tan skin and brown hair done up in elaborate pigtails. She had on a pink T-shirt accented with three black bows, and wore shorts with black ruffles on the bottom. Pink sandal-like shoes were on her feet and a pink purse was slung over her shoulder, accented with a black bow. Her green eyes shined with excitement, almost as if she would burst within the next few minutes.

"I'm Calem." the boy said. He turned towards the girl, who was now bouncing. "And this-"

"I'm Shauna!" she exclaimed, completely cutting Calem off. "And guess what, we've come to get you! We'll be waiting in the next town over!" then she bolted out of the front yard and to the gate on the other side of Serena's fence, and with a wave, jogged through the gate.

"She didn't even ask your name..." Calem said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Serena." she said, standing up from tying her shoe. "My name's Serena." Calem nodded, then turned, gesturing for her to follow. Hesitantly looking over her shoulder for a moment, she took a few steps forward and left her front yard, following Calem through the small gate. Silence ensued them as the walked down route one, the Vanville Path. Finally, Calem broke the silence.

"So is that you who plays the piano and sings every morning?" he asked. Serena snapped her head up to meet his gaze, blushing madly.

"Y-Y-You heard that?!" she exclaimed. Calem shrugged.

"It's pretty quiet around here, and considering my bedroom window is about twenty feet away from your bedroom window..." he shrugged. "It's good, though. What is it?"

"Today? Ah, nothing but an old lullaby that I can't completely remember." Serena said, waving her hand in a dismissive manner.

"So where's you from?" Serena shrugged.

"All over. Got bounced from place to place 'cause of my Moms racing."

"Anyplace interesting?"

"Undella Town was pretty cool. Just a short walk to Nimbassa. I didn't get to enjoy the attractions much due to the tourists. Slateport in Hoenn. Olivine in Johto." she scrunched her eyebrows together. "Dad always steered clear of Kanto, though. No idea why..."

"Serena! Calem! This way! Over here!" Serena turned, and saw Shauna waving frantically to them, her arm going back and forth so fast that Serena was beginning to wonder when the limb would simply fall off. She looked at Calem, who shrugged, as if used to this, and sat down across from the heavyset teenager, leaving one spot for Serena across from the ginger-haired kid. "We were just talking about you!"

"Wow! Shauna got you down to a tee!" said the heavyset kid. He had on a black T-shirt with a Vanillite figure on the front, orange cargo shorts, and black and white sneakers accented with orange. His black hair stuck up in a way that reminded her of a Petilil, and a yellow shoulder bag sat at his feet.

She looked across from her at the ginger kid, and realized that he was the shortest of the five of them, though his height went completely unnoticed with his crazy bright ginger red hair. He was wearing a pale green vest over a white polo, brown jeans, and lime green sneakers that went along perfectly with his lime green backpack. His gray eyes were large and innocent, but something behind them told Serena that he was wise beyond his years.

"This is the meeting place, Serena." Calem said. "I'll introduce you. Everyone, this is Serena. She's really good at playing the piano. Serena, that's Tierno." he nodded towards the heavyset boy. "He can really tear up the dance floor. That leaves Trevor. He's kinda shy, but he's really smart."

"The renowned Prof. Sycamore is here, and he has tasks for five teenagers, including you." Trevor said across from her. Serena cocked her head to the side.

"Well that's surprising. I mean, I _did _just move here, after all." Serena said with an awkward chuckle. Shauna stood up.

"Enough chit-chat. Time to get to important matters!" Shauna exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table, face set into utter seriousness. Serena waited excitedly. Was it time to get her pokémon...? "Giving Serena a nickname!" Serena nearly fell out of her chair at this. _That _was more important matters? "Serena, how old are you? This will help in the decision!"

"Gah... fifteen." Serena said.

"I think you caught her off guard there, Shauna." Calem noted. "But fifteen, huh? You're practically in the middle." Serena glanced at him for an explanation. "I'm sixteen, and so is Tierno. Shauna's fourteen, and, believe it or not, Trevor is fifteen as well." Trevor shot him a glare.

"Aw, don't be mean to Lil' T! It isn't his fault he's so short!" Shauna said in his defense, not realizing the nickname completely contradicted what she was trying to prove. "Anyways!" Shauna said. "How about Lil' S? Huh? Cute, huh?"

"Nah, I think she'd be more of a Lady S. You know, considering Calem said she's good with the piano."

"Hm... true." Shauna said. She turned to Trevor. "How about you, Lil' T?!"

"What?!" exclaimed Trevor as he did a double take. "You expect me to nickname someone I just met?" Cue Shauna puppy-dog eyes. "Gah... fine. How about something low-key, like S-kins?"

"Hm... I think Serena likes Lil' S the most!"

"No, Lady S!" exclaimed Tierno as arguing broke out. Serena wasn't exactly sure what to do. They were arguing over a nickname! Trevor kinda just shrunk back in his chair, and Calem sat with his hand propping his head up on the table, rather amused with the situation. After a few minutes of pointless arguing, he sat back, blowing his bangs off his forehead.

"Looks like I'll have to break it up again." he said, though wasn't exactly noticed. "How about," he said loudly to get their attention. "Seré?" The arguing stopped at this.

"That..." Shauna said. "Is AMAZING!"

"Yeah. Great job, Calem." Teirno nodded.

"But is it alright with Serena?" Trevor asked, glancing at the girl across from him. Serena blinked. Seré. Where had she heard that before...? A splitting pain burst through her head.

_"That's your fathers favorite song, Seré." _

A woman? What the...?

"Hey, Serena, you okay?" Calem asked, cutting off her thoughts as she leaned forward, rubbing her temples.

"I'm fine." she said, sitting up straight again. "Just a headache, that's all." she turned towards the rest of the group. "It's gone now. And Seré is a perfect nickname."

"Great! Now that that's settled..." Tierno reached into his bag, pulling out a slender case. Inside, Serena could see three pokéballs. "Now it's time for you to choose your starter! I hope that you all feel the same way me an Trevs did when we first got our pokémon." Tierno grinned, opening the case to reveal three pokéballs. "On the left," he said, pointing. "Is Chespin, the grass type. In the middle is Fennekin, the fire-type, and on the right is Froakie, the water type." Serena widened her eyes. She's never heard of such pokémon before!

"Oh! I don't know which to choose! They're all adorable!" exclaimed Shauna. "Cal, Seré, you first!" Calem turned towards Serena.

"Ladies first." he shrugged, gesturing politely. Serena turned towards the three pokéballs again. She always wanted to choose a fire starter in other regions...

"Um..." she reached out, grabbing the one in the middle. "This is Fennekin, right?"

"Yep! I'll take Chespin!" Shauna said, snatching the pokéball.

"Leaving me with Froakie." Calem nodded.

"Oooh, let's let them out! I want to meet 'em!" exclaimed Shauna, pushing her chair back and tossing the pokéball in the air. Calem followed, as did Serena. She smiled as the small, fox-like creature appeared in front of her.

"Hi, Fennekin." she said, kneeling down to the pokémons eye level. "My name's Serena." the pokémon purred, coming closer and rubbing her head into Serena's outstretched hand. Shauna let out a little squeal.

"It. Is. ADORABLE!" she exclaimed, scooping Chespin into a hug. "I love him! I'm Shauna, Lil' Chester!"

"Good to meet you, Froakie." Calem said. "Because of you, I can finally become a trainer. Thanks!" Froakie let out an exclamation of happiness, hopping up into Calem's arms.

"I also have a gift from the professor." Trevor said, reaching carefully into his bag and pulling out three slender devices. He passed on to each of the new trainers. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if afraid to speak. "This is the Kalos regional pokédex. It collects data on any pokémon you may encounter upon your journey. It's my goal to complete it!" he said in one breath. Serena blinked, and then chuckled, looking at the device in her hand. Hesitantly, she pressed the button in the middle, and was slightly shocked when it opened a crack and a holographic projection of the entries appeared, including Fennekin, Froakie, and Chespin.

"Everything in Kalos is holographic." Calem said, noticing her slight surprise. "Including the Halo Caster on your bag." Serena glanced at the device on her purse, but said nothing. Learning quickly how to navigate the pokédex, she found the information on Fennekin, smiling at the move that she currently knew.

"Hey, Serena, we both have pokémon... Do you know what that means?" Shauna asked, once again standing up, almost sending her chair to the ground. Serena glanced up, though Shauna did not wait for an answer. "A battle!" Shauna exclaimed, jogging away from the table and into a clear path for them. Serena blinked, but stood. She was not one to decline, or loose, for the matter, a challenge.

"Ready, Fennekin?" Serena asked as the small pokémon leapt from her arms.

"Alright, Lil' Chester!" exclaimed Shauna with a spin. "Let's go! Start with Growl!"

"Tail Whip!" Serena ordered. "Follow with Scratch!"

"Vine Whip! Lift Fennekin in the air!"

"Not gonna happen, Ember!" Serena smirked as the small flames licked across Chespins vines, causing him to recoil.

"Oh no, Tackle!" Shauna exclaimed, making sure to cause some damage.

"Scratch!" this sent Chespin flying back, landing in a heap at Shauna's feet, but did not stop the grass type. Slowly, it pushed himself to his feet, glaring determinedly.

"Alright!" exclaimed Shauna with a fist pump. "Use Vine Whip!"

"Dodge!" Serena cried, watching as her fire-type skillfully stepped around and through the vines. "Ember!" that move did it. As soon as the small burst of flames hit Chespin, it sent him flying back, landing on his back, swirls in his eyes.

"Aaaawwww!" exclaimed Shauna as she returned Chespin. "I wasn't done watching Lil' Chester yet!"

"Great job, Fennekin!" Serena said, accepting the pokémon into a hug as it bounded up to her. She laughed as Fennekin licked her cheek in happiness.

"Wow~! You're really good!" exclaimed Shauna.

"A-Anyways." Trevor said, pulling out another item from his pocket. "This is a letter from the professor. It's a letter to your Mom about the journey."

"You should deliver that to her before you continue on." Tierno suggested as Serena took the letter from Trevors hand. "Trevs and I are going to Santalune Forest."

"Oh, me too! Just gimme a minute to heal up Lil' Chester!" Shauna exclaimed, jumping up. Trevor nodded, and got up to leave with his two friends, leaving Calem and Serena.

"Well, I'm heading back." Serena said, throwing her pink shoulder bag over her shoulder and returning Fennekin. "You?"

"I'll go with you. There're some things I need to get from home." Calem said, standing up with her. Serena smiled at this. So much has happened today. Four new friends, a new pokémon, even the opportunity of a journey.

What a crazy day.

o.0.o.0.o

**Ugh, i know, I know, crappy ending, shoot me, I'm sorry!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	2. Starstruck in the Santalune Forest!

**Wow! Fifteen reviews on the first chapter? I didn't think this was so popular! ^.^ Sadly, for every good thing, there is a bad one. I am grounded till March first... and I can either update at school or in secret... Ugh...**

**In response to the frequently asked question: YES, THIS IS KALOSSHIPPING.**

**And also, some character may not make sense if you had not read ****_The Beginning with Leaf Green. _****I suggest reading it beforehand if you have not, and if you don't but have questions, PM me.**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

"Welcome home, Serena! How was meeting the neighbors?" her mother asked as Serena walked into her home.

"Great, actually. Shauna is kinda hyperactive, and Tierno is just a gentle giant. Trevor is really shy, but I think we'll be good friends."

"And what about that boy that lives next door?"

"Who, Calem? He's nice." Serena said, pulling out the letter from Prof. Sycamore. "Anyways, this is from the professor." her mother took the envelope, glancing at the back.

"What lovely handwriting... Perhaps a love letter?" she mused to herself, promptly tearing it open and reading the contents.

"Mom, technically, you're still married." Serena pointed out while her mothers eyes scanned the page.

"And for all I care, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Mentioned can get impaled by Rhyhorns horn." Grace said, her eyes never leaving the paper and voice still somehow still keeping the cheerful airiness. Serena shuddered at this, but it wasn't like she could _blame _her mother for how she felt. After all, her father- "A journey, huh? Well, of course!" her mother said, cutting off Serena's thoughts. "I'm guessing you chose Fennekin, right? You've always wanted to start off with a fire-type, in every region."

"You guessed correctly!" Serena laughed, tossing her pokéball in the air and allowing the small fox out. Her mother looked it over and grinned.

"How cute! It suites you!" her mom chuckled, shaking her head and placing the letter aside. "My, we haven't even finished unpacked and already so much is happening! Well, let's get you ready for your journey, Serena!" her mother took her pink purse and disappeared up the stairs and into her room, whereas Fennekin decided to curl into a ball and sleep. Serena figured all the battling must have tired her out.

Soon, her mother came back downstairs, Serena's pink bag looking slightly bulkier.

"Here you go, Serena!" she said, passing the bag back to her. "What an unexpected turn of events! You made friends! You got a pokémon! And now you get to take a lap around Kalos! It's almost like the final burst of speed in a Rhyhorn race! Now don't forget this," she passed her Halo Caster to her. "You know how to use your Map on this, right?" Serena raised an eyebrow. "All you is select the app..." her mom did this, and a holographic projection of the Kalos map appeared above the caster. "And viola! Easy as pie." she passed the Halo Caster back to her daughter, and smiled. " I don't know what, exactly, Prof. Sycamore expects you to do on your journey, but traveling is really nice. Now go get 'em, sport!"

"Thanks mom! I promise to call!" Serena said, returning Fennekin and walking out the front door. As she did, Rhyhorn, who had been asleep earlier, let out a low growl, and stomped up to her, rubbing his head happily against Serena's side.

"Ha ha ha!" her mother laughed as she came out, Serena trying to get the pokémon to back off. "What a card! Seems even Rhyhorn wants to see you off! Well, he's known you since you were just a child, after all!" she paused, calling Rhyhorn to come next to her. "Good luck, Serena! Go for broke! And don't worry, you'll have your pokémon by your side!" Serena let out a laugh, waving over her shoulder to her mother and Rhyhorn.

"Thanks again, Mom!"

o.0.o.0.o

"This. Seriously. SUCKS!" Serena shouted towards the sky angrily, stomping through Santalune Forest. "Not only did I loose Calem, but also Shauna! Like, what the heck, Fennekin?" Serena did not like forests, in which she decided to openly state to her trusty starter, who listened patiently, though somewhat absentmindedly.

It all seemed to go by so fast. Serena first followed Calem into the forest, who told her that getting through was fairly simple, if one stayed on the path. Serena followed these directions obediently, until she ran into Shauna, who claimed that she felt 'something exciting would happen' of she stuck around with Serena. Not that the girl minded; she wanted to make good friends this time around!

So she and Shauna stuck together, only to be separated when Shauna saw a wild Pikachu, squealed, and ran after it. Serena, of course, followed after the excitable girl. Off the path, and into the towering, twisting trees of the Santalune Forest.

"At least on the bright side..." Serena continued. "We captured a pokémon." Fennekin barked her name proudly, knowing that Serena was referring to the Budew that was resting in the second pokéball on her belt. Fennekin let out a low whine, and Serena smiled down at her. "Wanna rest?" Fennekin nodded, and Serena took out her pokéball. "Thanks for keeping me company, Fennekin. I'm sure I'll be fine on my own." Fennekin barked thankfully while Serena recalled the fire type.

Clipping the pokéball back to her belt, Serena turned in a random direction, wishing that Calem had given her advice on what to do when she _did _go off the path. She glanced at the Halo Caster on her bag, and smirked. She'll call someone! Flipping through the numbers, she facepalmed. She forgot to get their numbers...

"Well, that's down and out..." Serena groaned, clipping the halo caster back to her bag. She glanced around the ground of the forest floor, searching for a trace of a human footprint to lead her out, when she saw something that seemed strangely out of place. She glanced around, and crept closer towards the hollow at the bottom of the tree. Brushing some leaves aside, she found a bright orange egg, speckled with some gray spots. She grinned at her luck. A pokémon egg!

She heard angry squawking, and looked up, seeing a pair of Fletchling twittering angrily above her. She looked down at the egg in her hand, and then back up at the two angry birds. Slowly, she pulled out the dex, reading the description of the pokémon. It said they were friendly...

"Oh, crap..." she said, setting the egg back down, covering it with leaves once more. "Um, sorry! All's good, right?" Serena glanced back at the parents of the egg, who were still glaring angrily at her. Serena reached over, and stupidly patted the egg with her fingers, before getting up and backing away. This angered the parents even more, and suddenly, they let out an angry screeches, loud enough to be heard across the forest. Serena stumbled back, watching as chaos erupted around her.

Possibly every Fletchling in the forest responded to their angered calls, and when Serena looked back at the two who's egg she disturbed, she suddenly knew why. The male of the couple was a shiny, giving it an added respect among the flock.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, her brain was screaming to run, to shout, to grab a pokéball and fight, _anything, _but she couldn't. It was like her brain was working, but the nerves connected to her arms and legs were cut. She was rooted in place, unable to move.

"_Wha-What the heck?!" _she thought, mouth agape, but silently cursing. Even in her thoughts, she stutters over words. "_Wh-Why can't I move?! Is this... Is this and attack?" _She went through a mental check of every move that could possibly be learned by a flying-type. Even though Fletching was a relatively new encounter for her... there was no way the species could know a move that would freeze her in place like this! Was it... was _she _the cause of her sudden immobility?

With a squawk of anger, the birds dive bombed towards her.

Squeezing her eye shut, still unable to get over whatever mental block was going through her body, even though she wasn't exactly sure _what _this mental block was. She was gonna die. She pissed off the flocks leader, messed with his _egg. _She was bird food, both literally and figuratively.

"Seré! Oh, Arceus, Froakie, use Bubble!"

"C-Calem?" Serena managed out as the colorful bubbles came flying towards the fire-flying duel type. Said black-haired boy ran up to her, a mix of worry and anger in his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?! Why aren't you running?! Do you even know anything about Fletchling?" Serena, filled with sudden rage, squared her shoulders and turned towards the boy.

"For your information, I _couldn't _move, and, again, FYI, I just moved here!" Serena shot back icily. "And my dex said they were friendly!" Calem groaned, and brought out his pokédex.

_"Fletchling, the Tiny Robin Pokémon," _the dex said in it's electronic voice. "_These friendly pokémon send signals to each other with beautiful chirps and tail feather movements. Despite this, they are merciless to anyone who enters their territory." _Calem stared sternly as Serena opened and closed her mouth like a magikarp.

"B-But my dex said-!"

"Did you even read the whole description?" Calem asked, a hint of smugness in his voice. Serena scowled.

"I pissed them off, okay? I stopped at the word 'friendly'." she glanced back up at the bids, now distracted by Froakie and his onslaught of Bubble attacks. "And now isn't the time for this!"

"Correct." Calem smirked. "What pokémon do you have on you?"

"A Budew and Fennekin." Serena answered. Calem raised an eyebrow.

"Guess I'm behind a bit, huh, neighbor?" Calem smirked his eyes landing on the shiny male, who was relentless in battle. Raising his hand, he pointed. "Froakie, we're catching that one!" Froakie looked back for a moment, and nodded, launching another fatal Bubble attack at the pokémon. Calem then grabbed a pokéball from his bag, and took aim, tossing the device and accurately hitting the bird in the side. The shiny got sucked inside, and the ball fell to the ground with a thud. It shook, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

Then, with a 'ding!' the capture was successful.

"Alright!" Calem exclaimed, running forward and scooping the pokéball up. "I caught a Fletchling, and a shiny one at that!" his arrogant smirk fell at Serena's look of horror. "What?"

"Y-Y-You idiot!" Serena exclaimed. "Do you realize what you've just done?!"

"I... caught a Fletchling?" Calem asked, slightly confused as to her fear.

"What _kind _of Fletchling?"

"A shiny...?"

"And shines are?" she demanded, trying to get the excited teen to connect the dots.

"Rare... oh shit." Calem said, his face visibly paling. "I caught their leader, didn't I?"

"And I think that his mate is out for revenge..." Serena said, watching as the female slammed into Froakie and began attacking relentlessly.

"Froakie, return!" Calem exclaimed, watching him faint and knowing that the female Fletchling would no doubt try to kill the frog if Calem kept him out. The bird turned her eyes towards the two trainers, and suddenly began glowing. As the light dispersed, a Fletchinger glared at us. The newly evolved pokémon looked over her shoulder, squawking orders. "Seems they have a new leader..." Calem said, turning back to an open mouthed Serena.

"C-Calem..." Serena stuttered out. "I-I-I can't m-move."

"What?"

"I can't move!" Serena yelled frantically, surprising herself as every word came out without a stutter. Calem widened his eyes.

"Are you scared of birds...?" he mused to himself, Serena just barely catching the comment, watching as the flock turned towards them, and like a bunch of fighter pilots, sped towards them.

"Chuchu, Thunder!"

"What-?" Calem said, though cut off a an older blond woman, maybe nineteen or twenty, jogged towards them, wearing light jeans, a tan top with fringe going around the top hem, and brown lace-up boots. Around her waist and tied off to the side was a forest green scarf, acting as a belt. Hanging from her shoulder was a forest green bag, matching her belt and eyes. Her long blond hair was braided thickly over her shoulder, a forest green headband on her head, though not pulling her thick, windswept bangs off her forehead.

"Get down!" she ordered, her Raichu beside her beginning to crackle with electricity. Calem followed orders, pulling a still frozen Serena down with him. Waiting until the pained cries of flying types and crackling of electricity stopped overhead. A few moments of silence. "Are you two alright?" slowly, the beginning trainers looked up at the woman again, who was kneeling next to them, a kind smile on her features, but worry filling her eyes. "Hurt?"

"Nah, we're fine." Calem answered for them. She cocked her head.

"Your pokémon?"

"Ah, Froakie fainted, but I'll be fine. Serena?"

"My Budew is pretty weak, I haven't healed her up at the pokémon center yet. Her injuries have nothing to do with the attack just now." Serena said. The woman sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness. Those Fletchling can be merciless."

"Am I the _only _one who didn't know that?!" exclaimed Serena, over her frozen state-slash-possible-fear of the birds. The woman chuckled.

"I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" she closed her eyes and smiled. "My name is Dayna Yellow."

Serena and Calem instantly recognized the name of Dayna, recalling the faint heroics of the girl when they were younger, ten for Serena and eleven for Calem. In fact, they were surprised they hadn't recognized the woman _sooner, _considering that the famous woman was known for her natural medical miracles, and was very-well one of the most well known trainers in the world, besides the Johto Tower Tycoon, Fire Red, the Viridian Gym Leader, Gary Oak, and the champion of Kanto herself, Leaf Green.

"You two look surprised." Dayna noticed, smiling, and pushing herself up, offering a hand to help. Serena accepted this, whereas Calem pushed himself up. "Guess we aren't as famous here in Kalos, huh?"

"Maybe it's because you're not recognizable." Serena said. "I didn't know you were... _you _until you introduced yourself." Dayna smiled, turning towards Chuchu the Raichu. "Can you lead us out for us?" Chuchu nodded happily, sniffed the air, and bolted ahead.

"Probably because it's been a good four years since the press managed to get pictures of us. I mean, in Johto, we went through an onslaught with the paparazzi, so our search was kinda futile..."

"Search?" Calem asked, glancing at her while following the Raichu. Dayna's right hand flew to her mouth, her cheeks a slight red, as if she exposed a secret.

"Ah, I've said to much." she smiled, lowering her hand, and then changing the subject. "You are?"

"I'm Serena, and this is Calem." Serena said, nodding towards the teen next to her. Dayna smiled.

"Very nice names." she nodded. "Trainers?"

"Yep." Calem answered. "Both me and Seré." Dayna stopped for a moment.

"Seré?" she asked quizzically, glancing at Serena.

"It's a nickname." Serena said with a roll of her eyes. "Just a silly nickname."

"Silly?! Why I'm insulted!" Calem said, his hand flying dramatically to his heart. "I came up with that nickname, I'll have you know!" Dayna glanced between them, and smiled.

"So it was just a coincidence." she mumbled, before laughing. "A crazy coincidence, hm?"

"Uh... I guess?" Serena said unsurely. What was so coincidental about the nickname Shauna insisted she had? Dayna waved her hand in a dismissive manner as they came upon the exit of the forest. Shauna ran up behind them, followed by Trevor and Tierno.

"Hey! You guys reached here first!" Shauna exclaimed, her eyes moving to Dayna. "Who's this?"

"Dayna Yellow." Dayna responded, hand outstretched, awaiting a handshake.

"OHMAGAWD!" Shauna exclaimed, absolutely starstruck until her eyes landed on Raichu. "RAICHU! She's adorable!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Yellow-san." Trevor said politely, taking Dayna's as of now ignored hand and shaking it. "My name is Trevor, and that," he nodded towards Shauna, who was giving Chuchu a hug. "Is Shauna."

"It's just Dayna. No need for formalities!" Dayna smiled, turning her head towards Tierno. "You are?"

"Tierno." Tierno said, perhaps even more starstruck than Shauna, though wasn't getting over it quite as fast as Shauna. Quickly, he turned towards, Serena and Calem, as if trying to distract himself from the well-known trainer in front of him. "I found some great pokémon for my dance team!"

"Oh? Well that's great!" Serena replied. Trevor let out an exasperated sigh at his best friends.

"Tierno... don't you ever think about something other than how pokémon move?" Trevor asked. "You should focus on the task at hand! Like finding pokémon to complete the pokédex!"

"Aw, but that's no fun!" Tierno whined. Dayna chuckled at this.

"You," she nodded towards Trevor. "Remind me of someone I know. Bent on completing the pokédex, super serious..." she smiled and shook her head. "But that's another story for another time." She paused. "You're Prof. Sycamores pupils, aren't you?"

"Yes." Trevor nodded proudly. Dayna smiled, and reached into her bag.

"Then perhaps I can trust one of you," she pulled out a cream colored, red and blue speckled egg in a glass, cylinder case. "With this?" she tilted her head to the side and smiled. "As much as I love baby pokémon, I can't raise one at the moment. I have a more important matters at hand."

"I've never seen an egg like that before..." Shauna said, staring in awe.

"Well, it certainly isn't an egg from Kalos." she said. "I actually got it from the boyfriend of the person who you reminded me of, Trevor. But like I said before, another story for another time." a pause. "Any takers?" There was a silence.

"I... Don't think I can raise an egg right now." Tierno said glumly. "I mean, it'd be great and all... but what if I hurt it while it while I practiced my dancing?"

"Same here." Trevor said. "It may fill up pokédex pages, but I really am not interested in anything like that." he looked down. "Sorry."

"I was never good with kids." Calem said immediately. "Serena?" Serena actually wanted to say yes, but looked at Shauna, and saw her glancing excitedly at the egg. The brunette really wanted to raise an egg, she could tell... and Serena didn't want to deny her that.

"At the time, I'm unable." Serena smiled. "But I think Shauna could do it."

"Wha-What?!" exclaimed Trevor as Shauna's face lit up. The ginger turned towards her. "Shauna, are you sure? Taking care of an egg requires extreme responsibility, and then raising the baby pokémon takes even _more..."_

"I can do it, Trevor." Shauna said determinedly. Trevor's mouth hung agape, then he shook his head.

"You didn't use that ridiculous nickname." he said. "You're serious about this, huh?"

"Yup!" Shauna said, hands outstretched, awaiting the egg case. Dayna passed it over with a small smile.

"Take good care of it for me. Now," Dayna looked up at the sky. "I've got to go. I need to meet up with my boyfriend at Prof. Sycamores."

"Fire is here too?!" exclaimed Shauna, keeping a firm grip on her egg. Dayna nodded.

"We're heading towards Prof. Sycamores as well." Tierno said. Dayna smiled.

"Then perhaps we'll cross paths again." She turned towards Tierno. "I hope your dance team works out. I expect a grand performance!" then she looked at Serena and Calem. "Good luck with being trainers!" then to Trevor. "Have fun completing the pokédex, and," she looked at Shauna. "I believe you'll do _egg-_stremely well with the egg." she giggled at the pun.

"That," Calem sweatdropped. "Was a horrible pun."

"I know." Dayna laughed. "But I could resist!" she turned, waving over her shoulder. "See you soon, I hope!" then she walked away.

o.0.o.0.o

**WOW. I am HORRID at puns. You can hate me all you one, but that one was courtesy of TheJWittz! Ah, what a wonderful youtube channel.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	3. Santalune Really Bugs Serena

**Like i said, grounded, so gonna probably update this while I've got my computer.**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

The minute Serena stepped into Santalune City, she immediately went to challenge the gym, despite Shauna's exclamations to go to the hat boutique with her. Don't get her wrong, Serena _did _want to go in and buy a few items... but she needed more money than the little amount she got from battling trainers, lasses, and preschoolers on her way from home. Plus she had to put into consideration supplies for her journey...

Back in other regions, there weren't many clothing stores outside of department stores in big cities. And even then, clothing had to be specially ordered for the buyer, thus getting most of the same items with the same color scheme. Boutiques and the option to change her style were a whole new ball game for Serena, and truthfully, she was excited for it.

Managing her money would be much harder than before.

"Hey, trainer!" a girl on roller skates said. She stood in front of the gym, blocking the entrance. "I'm the guard to the Santalune Gym!" Serena raised an eyebrow. Guard...? "Unofficial, though!" she said with a wink. Serena nodded. "So, anyways, have you ever roller skated?"

"Uh... No?" Serena said, raising an eyebrow.

"What?! But it's the most amazing feeling in the world!" the girl exclaimed. "You know what, I'll give you this extra pair I won, free of charge, if, and only if, you win against me in a battle!" Serena smiled. Although she wasn't exactly interested in roller skates... Fine she'll admit it, she was _terrified _of falling on her hind end, but she wasn't one to back down from any challenge.

"Sure! I love a good battle." Serena said, backing up and giving them space to let their pokémon out.

"Zigzagoon, show 'em who's boss!" exclaimed the girl.

"Budew, time to shine!"

"Start with Tail Whip!" Serena watched as Zigzagoon turned around and waved its tail alluringly, causing Budew to get distracted and then slammed with a tackle.

"Stun Spore!" Serena shouted, watching as the golden dust settled over Zigzagoon, paralyzing it. "Mega Drain!" Zigzagoon cried out its name as it fainted, whereas Serena blinked in surprise. Was she really that strong, or was this roller skater just that weak? Regardless, the roller skater let out a carefree laugh, returning her fallen pokémon.

"I'm not that strong, so I'm not surprised that I loss." she admitted skating up to Serena, holding out the snap on skates. "You won these far and square, though, so enjoy yourself!" Serena nodded, taking the skates and tucking them away in her bag. She'd try skating later. She had a gym badge to win!

"Thanks. For the battle." Serena said, brushing past the skater as she sped off down the street. Serena wasn't even sure she heard her. Regardless, she pushed open the doors to the gym.

"What's the hustle, little Crustle? Welcome to Santalune City Gym!" some guy with an overly cheery smile said. "So, future Champ," he said this with a hint of sarcasm, which slightly irked Serena. "This'll be your first time challenging a Gym, huh? Are you _thrilled_? Are you _pumped_? You should be! No worries here! You've got Pokémon on your side!" Now his voice was overly sarcastic and cheery. "And really, they're the ones who are gonna be doing all the battling. Am I right or am I right? Right?"

"Listen, I don't have time for you to be a sarcastic jerk. How do I get to the gym leader?" Serena huffed, temple throbbing on her head. At this, the guy smiled, though it was one of those 'I'm-paid-to-smile-like-this' smiles. He clasped a hand on her shoulder- without her consent, she might add- and steered her towards a hole she, surprisingly, hand't noticed before.

"Jump on that hole there, and you'll be on your way to where the Gym Leader's a-waitin' for you!" he smacked his hand on her back, and she, off guard, tumbled down the hole shrieking. She landed on a spiderweb, which bounced her up, and then she landed back down again. "Whoops!" yelled the guy with a laugh, showing Serena that he totally meant that action. "Everybody in this Pokémon Gym uses Bug-type Pokémon. Got it?"

"JERK!" Serena shouted up to him, even though he just laughed, walking away and leaving her on the spiderweb. She glanced around the gym, taking in the thin threads of the spiderweb the sat upon.

"You'll be fine!" Serena looked up and saw a blond woman across the way, under a cloth-like pavilion, boxes and, from what Serena could see, camera equipment, surrounding her. "We haven't had _to many _accidents!"

To many?!

o.0.o.0.o

'Plowing' was not the correct word for how Serena got through the gym trainers. More like a 'rage-induced-steamroll', if you will. But who could really blame her? That gym guide guy was a sarcastic jerk, who pushed her down a hole and practically to her death! Then she had to half battle half balance precariously on threads of spiderweb until she finally met up with the insane woman who thought up this idea for a gym obstacle.

"That determined expression... That glint in your eyes that say your up to the challenge... It's fantastic! Just fantastic!" Viola grabbed the camera around her neck and quickly snapped a picture of Serena's determined expression. If the challenge involved ripping off Viola's arm, than yes, Serena would happily step up to the challenge.

"I take it your the gym leader?" Serena questioned. Viola dropped her camera and winked.

"Yup! Wether or not it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes after victory..." she trailed off, smiling. "All are great subjects for my camera! Something tells me this battle will be fantastic, just fantastic! Nothing is going to ruin this shot!" she grabbed a pokéball and tossed it in the air. "Go, Surskit!"

"Budew, time to shine!" Serena exclaimed, sending out the grass type.

"Fantastic, just fantastic!" exclaimed Viola, snapping pictures of the bewildered Budew.

"Arceus, that's distracting her!" exclaimed Serena. Viola didn't seem to listen. "Ugh, whatever. Stun Spore! Let's make this quick!"

"Bu-dew!" shouted the pokémon as it unleashed the golden dust from her bulb. Surskit skillfully dodged around the golden dust, then tackled Budew.

"Budew, Growth!" Serena ordered as the pokémon got back up on her stubby little feet again.

"Water Sport!" Viola ordered. Serena raised an eyebrow as water rained down around them and on the battlefield. Budew was a grass type...

"Mega Drain!" Serena smirked, watching as the bug fainted from the one hit attack, whereas her pokémon obtained HP back from the attack.

"Fantastic, just fantastic!" Viola exclaimed, still as chipper as ever. "Let's go, Vivillion!"

"Crap. Stun Spore!"

"Gust!" Viola ordered, sending the golden powder back towards Budew. On top of that, the blistering winds picked up the little grass-type, flung it back and forth, and even over Serena's head, landing in the middle of the huge spiderweb. Serena ground her teeth together, seeing the little pokémon fainted from the attack. "You're not the only one capable of a one hit KO! Fantastic, just fantastic!"

"Yeah, but we're not down and out yet!" Serena smirked, tossing her final pokéball in the air. "Fennekin!" Fennekin barked out her name determinedly landing on the slightly soaked battlefield with a small splash. "Show 'em who's boss, Fennekin, Ember!"

With a low growl, Fennekin unleashed a flurry of the small fireballs, hitting Vivillion directly. Serena grinned proudly, though this faltered when Vivillion straightened out, taking some damage, though not much...

"That's what the Water Sport from earlier was from before! Just a safe precaution!" Viola said, adjusting the lens on her camera and then snapping a picture. "Fantastic, just-"

"We get it, fantastic!" Serena yelled, annoyed. "Fennekin, Howl! Follow with Tail Whip!" her starter obeyed.

"Vivillion, Infestation!" Viola ordered. Serena raised an eyebrow. Infestation? She never heard of that move before... Serena felt something flutter on her leg. Slowly, she looked down and saw a small, winged black bug had somehow made its way in, and was fluttering around her foot. She shuddered, and swatted it away.

"Fenn-e!" Fennekin screeched. Serena snapped her head up and saw that, crawling underneath her trusted partner, were hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny winged bugs. Where were they coming from? What were they going to do? Fennekin let out another shriek, and began launching embers in random directions in a panic.

"Gah!" Serena exclaimed as an ember flew over her head. "Fenneking, calm down! You'll burn the place down!" She scowled as Vivillion flapped around the gym, dodging the random attacks like it was some sort of walk in the park. This was a battle, not a stroll! But if Serena didn't do something soon, it would become one for blissful little Vivillion, still fluttering around on it's wings...

Hold on...

"Fennekin, Sunny Day!" Serena shouted. Fennekin tilted her head upwards, and the sun blistered down, evaporating and eliminating the water sport attack. The bugs left, thankfully, and Serena smirked. "Ember, towards the wings!" Serena smirked as the fireballs hit a completely oblivious butterfly, causing it to cry out in pain. It fluttered to the ground, trying to pull itself up, but failing miserably as it fell back to the ground.

"Now what?" Serena mused to herself. "Scratch!" Fennekin's claws grew and extended, glowing white and slashing at Vivillions wings, nearly slashing the gentle material to threads. Serena gaped slightly. Never once had she seen her pokémon attack like that!

Suddenly, Fennekin, with a mighty roar, tilted her head back and flames engulfed her body, becoming stronger with every passing second. She looked up at the still struggling Vivillion, a smirk similar to her trainers on her face, and kicked off the ground.

Serena wasn't sure to be fascinated or downright scared of her partner. Initially, Fenneking didn't seem hurt, but somehow, Serena was surprised the pokémon could hold such power. As she flew through the air, some flames trailed off, leaving a trail of red hot flames behind the fire starter. A beautiful attack. Extremely deadly, but incredibly beautiful.

"Alright, Fennekin, keep it up!" Serena shouted in support of her partner, fist flying in the air as if her point wasn't already obvious. Fennekin shouted her name, the blazing pokémon slamming into the now bum Vivillion. As the attack hit, the bug-type too became engulfed in flames, wings flaring up with fire. It let out a vicious screech of pain, never once coming in contact with an attack like this before. The pain so intense, it was pushing the butterfly to borderline insanity.

Then, as soon as Fenneking landed on all four feet, completely devoid of flames, Vivillion landed behind her, flopping to the ground unconscious. Serena couldn't help but grin. They won!

"Great job Fennekin!" Serena exclaimed, scooping the pokémon into a hug. "That was-"

"Fantastic, just fantastic!" Viola exclaimed, snapping a picture of the joyous trainer and pokémon. "This is going on the gallery of fame! Just fantastic!" she grinned up at Serena, seemingly unaffected by the loss, only joyous by the pictures she got. "Anyways, great battle! It was fantastic, just fantastic! Here you go, the Bug Badge!" Serena grinned, taking the metallic item and pinning it on the strap of her Halo Caster.

"So... um..." Serena glanced over at the web. "How do I get out?"

"Oh? Simple. You can go through the stairway behind me." Viola grinned cheekily, half pushing Serena out. "Hurry along, I wanna develop these pictures!" Serena happily climbed up the stairs, glad to know that there was at least a normal way to get out of the gym. Unfortunately, she got greeted by jerk-gym-guy.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Wouldja look at that Bug Badge! Nice! Very nice, future Champ!" the gym guys said again, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I bet that schmancy-pants professor who gave you your first Pokémon'd be amazed to see it!" He let out a chuckle, and Serena narrowed her eyes.

She left the gym with her mood slightly dampened.

o.0.o.0.o

Serena took it upon herself to separate out her money. Half would go to supplies, the other half would go to boutique shopping. So, with her free-spending half slightly larger than before she battled all the trainers on route 22, she headed towards the hat boutique for a little victory splurge.

"Hello, customer!" a female store clerk said, walking up to her. "This boutique specializes specifically in hats and accessories! How can I help you?"

"Um..." Serena glanced around, unsure what to buy. Thankfully, the woman dragged her over to the female section, and began chattering away about their products.

"Now, I've been running this boutique for a few years now, and I can tell that you're the type of girl who goes for the simple things, yet must have a cute or elegant twist!"

"Uh... what?" Serena asked as the clerk pulled out a white cycling hat, and then a beige one.

"Something like," she snatched her felt hat away, and plopped the white one on her head, tilted slightly to the side. "This with a little..." she picked up a dark pink flower pin, and pinned it to the side. "Something like this?" Serena blinked, and grinned sheepishly in the mirror, liking both the hat and the pin combo. "But somehow, I could also see you liking..." she pulled out a simple black and white ballcap, holding it out to her. "This as well!"

"Uh..."

"Anyways, I know you're interested in these items, so I'll tell you right now, those flower pins are buy two, get one free!"

o.0.o.0.o

Somehow, Serena walked out of that store with three hats(the three the woman showed her) and taking the buy two get one free deal on the flower pins, one dark pink, one light pink, and one aqua.

Truthfully, Serena never intended to actually spend as much as she did, but she did take out a good chunk of her free-spending money. Regardless, she wanted to get to her nice, warm pokémon center bed and sleep off the overly enthusiastic store clerk, the sarcastic gym guy, crazy Viola with her spiderweb gym and the Snatalune Forest incidents.

Yes, a long sleep sounds really good right now.

o.0.o.0.o

**Ugh, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! I'm loosing my touch with ma cliffhangers. **

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	4. A Thousand Miles

**Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews!**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

Calem figured the gym would be hard, especially since he was at a disadvantage with his Froakie. Thankfully, he was at an advantage with Fletchling... But then he realized the psychotic gym leader, Viola had a Surskit. Regardless, he now proudly sported his Bug Badge on the inside of his jacket, glad that he decided to challenge the gym in the morning. This gave him the rest of the day to travel down to Luminose to visit Prof. Sycamore.

Shoving his hands in his sweatshirt pockets, he walked down route four, careful to avoid elderly gardner's who wielded their hedge clippers like weapons. He shuddered as they glared at him while he walked by, almost as if saying; '_Better stay outta my flowerbeds you rowdy whippersnapper!'_

He looked across the path to see a girl in jeans and a purple T-shirt, sporting a black and white ball cap on her head and black sneakers on her feet. She had dared to step in the flowerbeds, right smack in the middle of a bright pink pack of flowers, much to the gardner's distaste.

"Budew, Mega Drain!" she yelled. Whatever was across the field let out a cry of pain, and her Budew let out a chirp from the HP it had received. She enlarged a pokéball from her pink purse, and tossed it to the pokémon across the field. Calem waited a few moments, hearing the telltale 'Ding!' indicating that she had captured her target. He decided to continue on as the girl picked up the pokéball, clipping it on her belt, and turned, her face lighting up as she saw him. "Calem, hey!"

"Seré...?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as she jogged over to him.

"Yeah! Listen to this, I caught a Ralts just now! I remember when I was in Hoenn I wanted to catch one _sooo _badly, but Dad wouldn't let me leave Slateport without a pokémon. Of course, he wouldn't _give _me a pokémon to begin with, which sucks, ya know?"

"I suppose you won the Bug Badge, huh?" Calem said. Serena nodded.

"Yup!" she proudly sported her badge to him, hooked on the strap of her halo caster. Calem took his chin in his hand thoughtfully.

"Seems I live next to someone with some potential." he mumbled, before smiling himself. "I also won the Bug Badge."

"That's great! We should battle sometime!" Serena said with a determined glint in her eyes. The walked down the quiet route in silence for a while.

"I almost didn't recognize you." Calem said. "I'm used to seeing you in that red and black outfit." Serena shrugged.

"Back in other regions, we didn't get much of a choice for clothing." Serena shrugged. "Usually, you either had to travel to a city with a department store or pay for specially tailored clothes. And most of the time, everything would be picked over, so Mom had to order everything of the same color scheme and style. I didn't get much of a say in the matter." she paused thoughtfully. "Now I'm not one to get overly excited at the aspect of clothes, but if I have the chance to wear something other than a red and black dress, I'm gonna." she grinned, though it faltered as an older girl with purple hair walked up to them.

"You!" she said, pointing at the two of them. "Shauna, Trevor, Tierno, Calem, or Serena? Who's who?"

"Who wants to know?" Calem asked, almost defensively. The girl let out an impatient huff.

"Sina... That's no way to introduce yourself." a blond boy said, coming up behind her. He glanced at Calem and Serena with a sheepish smile. "Tell me, have you seen the pokémon Flabébé?" Calem shrugged. He already knew what a Flabébé was. Serena, on the other hand, pulled out her pokédex.

"I did! Came across a bunch while I was searching for Ralts!" Serena said, pulling up the holographic projection. The boy took the pokédex from her hand.

"Oh! I see. It's registered in your pokédex." the boy said, giving the device back. "That's what I would expect from one of the professors handpicked trainers!"

"Flabébé is, now brace yourself," Sina said, pausing for dramatic effect. "A fairy type pokémon!" Calem rolled his eyes. Again, he already knew this. Serena opened her mouth in shock, though.

"Fairy type...?" she wondered aloud.

"Yes. Initially, it was discovered about five years ago, but we didn't have the complete data to classify it." the guy said. "But recently, we had it classified and Prof. Sycamore had been having us battle with different types to determine type matchups."

"It turned the entire type matchup system on its head!" Sina exclaimed, waving her arms frantically. The male sweatdropped at this.

"Anyways," he said, turning back. "My name is Dexio. Two years ago, Prof. Sycamore entrusted me with a pokédex. You could say I'm a pokémon-voyage veteran."

"And I'm Sina. A beautiful name for a beautiful lady!" Sina said with a wink.

"I'm Serena."

"Calem." Calem said, taking Dexios handshake.

"If you like," Sina said, placing a hand on her hip. "We can show you to the Prof. lab. So come along now!" Neither trainer was given the choice of protest, for Sina grabbed both their wrists and dragged them through the gate, a frantic Dexio jogging behind her, trying to tell her that they could walk by themselves.

o.0.o.0.o

"And this is the first floor!" Sina exclaimed with a grand flourish of her arm. "The professor is most likely on the third floor. You can meet him there!"

"You've traveled a long way from Vanville Town," Dexio said, crossing his arms. "But you're finally here! The professor can't wait to meet you."

Serena was steered towards an elevator, and with a glance over her shoulder at Calem, who shrugged, both stepped inside. As they stepped out upon reaching the third floor, they were greeted by a man in a lab coat and two other adults to whom he was talking too. Serena immediately recognized Dayna, and she assumed the man in the lab coat was Prof. Sycamore. The third male, however, was a mystery to her.

He was tall, practically the same height as the professor, and had an explosion dark brown hair in his head, a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was wearing a black T-shirt with a red vest, dark blue jeans, and sneakers. On his hands were dark green fingerless gloves, a black, one shoulder backpack over his shoulders. Serena could just make out fiery red eyes from her perspective.

"Ah! So we finally meet!" Prof. Sycamore exclaimed, turning to the sound of the elevator opening. "Come over here for a moment."

"See? I told you we'd cross paths again!" Dayna exclaimed with a chuckle. "Fire, this is Serena and Calem, two of the teenagers whom Prof. Sycamore chose for the pokédex. Serena, Calem, this is my boyfriend, Fire Red."

"Yo." Fire said simply, holding his hand up in a lazy half wave. He blinked. "Weren't there supposed to be five of you?"

"We're hereeeee~!" came the singsong voice of Shauna, who jogged into the room, though carefully cradling the egg case in her arms. Trevor and Tierno followed behind her, though Trevor kept glancing at the egg in Shauna's arms. Calem snickered when he saw this.

"You know, Trevor, if you're so, _so _worried about the egg, maybe you should become the daddy!" he said teasingly to the shorter boy. Trevor looked over, his glare just barely concealing the faint red on his cheeks.

"Shut up, Calem." Trevor said.

"Ah, fantastic, all of you are here! I see you already know Ms. Dayna, and for those who don't, this is Johto's Tower Tycoon, Fire Red!" Prof. Sycamore said with a somewhat flamboyant arm gesture. Again, Fire raised his hand in a half wave.

"Nice to meet you." Fire said. "So these are the dexholders of Kalos?" he smiled fondly. "Remember when we first got our pokédexs?" Dayna nodded.

"How's the egg doing, Shauna?" Dayna asked. Shauna beamed.

"Great! Though Lil' T keeps fussing. It's not like I'm gonna drop it or anything! That would be as bad as dropping my brother when he was a baby!" Shauna exclaimed in her defense, remembering the small boy at home.

"But you didn't though, right? Drop him?" Serena asked. Shauna snapped her gaze to her.

"Of course not! Don't be silly, Seré!" Shauna laughed, not at all offended.

"Many thanks for coming all the way from Vaniville Town!" the professor said. "I'm Professor Sycamore! It's a pleasure to finally meet with you, and for the first time, meet you Serena!"

"Ah, it's nothing." Serena said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"How is your Pokémon journey going so far?" he asked excitedly. "Have you met many different Pokémon?" Serena glanced between her friends, and saw a confident smirk on Trevor's face.

"I believe so, professor." Trevor said. Prof. Sycamore beamed.

"Fantastic! Let me have a quick look at your Pokédex and see!" he took the five pokédex's from the trainers, sliding them into thin little slots on a panel. Almost instantly, a holographic projection of their trainer info on the dex popped up while a loading bar underneath it began loading. In a few quick minutes, the information has loaded, and the professor was quickly scanning over all the pokémon that each trainer had seen. "Impressive, all of you!" he exclaimed, retrieving the pokédex's. Again, he turned towards his desk, retrieving something that they could not see. "You!" he turned towards Serena, pointing at her while sending out a Charmander. Serena blinked, pointing at herself.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! We shall battle!" Again, Serena blinked.

"Why do you get to battle the professor...?" Calem asked thoughtfully. Trevor stared at Charmander in awe.

"This will be great for completing the dex!" he exclaimed, immediately scanning the fire type.

"You better look out, Professor, she's tough!" Shauna exclaimed.

"H-Hold up!" Serena exclaimed. "Is it really safe to have a battle in, you know, _your office, _Prof. Sycamore?" Said professor simply waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

"No time like the present! Now come! Battle!" his Charmander growled in agreement, growing impatient. Serena shot a glance at Dayna and Fire, as begging for the more experienced dexholders to help her out. Both simply shrugged, responding with a _'Sorry, but it's in his craw' _look. Serena let out a frustrated sigh.

"Fine. But if anything get's damaged, I'm not paying for it." Serena backed up a bit, contemplating her choices against the fire type. "Ralts, time to shine!" she said, bringing out the newest edition to her team.

"Ah, a psychic-fairy type. Merveilleux! Charmander, Ember s'il vous plaît."

"Ralts, Calm Mind!" Serena ordered, though wincing herself as the ember slammed into the pokémon. "Again, then Double Team!" Ralts obliged, forming multiple copies of itself, surrounding Carmander.

"Char... Char?" Charmander asked, looking at the multiple copies.

"Use Calm Mind, once more!" Serena said. Again, Ralts obeyed, bringing her stuppy arms to her head and allowing calmness to ripple through her and her clones.

"Ra-Ralts!" they all cried out determinedly.

"Charmander, use Scratch to find the real one!" Prof. Sycamore exclaimed. Carmander, claws extending and glowing, slashed through the nearest Ralts clone, doing the same with many others.

"Ralts, quick, Confusion!" the real Ralts, and it's remaining clones, let out small bursts of psychic a rather large one coming form the real one. Charmander let out a screech of pain, getting slammed back as the attacks wracked his body, eventually fainting him.

"Excellent travail, but we're not down and out yet! Squirtle!"

"Good girl Ralts, return." replacing that pokéball with another, Serena smirked. "Budew, time to shine!" almost immediately upon coming out, Budew began glowing brilliantly, the white light engulfing the room. "Wha-What the-?!" exclaimed Serena as the light grew even stronger.

"Rosilia...?" Serena opened her eyes to see the new pokémon staring at her flowered hands. Slowly, the trainer grinned determinedly.

"Alright, let's go!" Serena exclaimed, checking the dex for any new moves. "Toxic Spikes!" Purple spikes fell around Squirtle, though not initially effecting him. "Magical Leaf!"

"Withdraw!" Prof. Sycamore ordered. Intelligently, Squirtle curled into his shell, the brightly colored leaves slamming somewhat uselessly against the hard, solid shell.

"Mega Drain!" Serena ordered, watching as the attack drained away from Squirtle, even though he was still on the inside of his shell. From the shock of the sudden super effective attack, Squirtle popped out of his protective shell. "Now, Grass Whistle!" A slow, melodic melody echoed throughout the office, emitted from the gentle rose petals on Roselias hands. For one quick moment, even Serena herself was almost lulled asleep, but quickly remembered she was in the middle of a battle. No time for napping!

"Oh non, Squirtle!" Prof. Sycamore exclaimed. "Réveillez-vous, réveillez-vous!"

"Now, Magical Leaf!" Serena ordered, effectively knocking out Squirtle.

"Semble que nous sommes en difficulté..." Prof. Sycamore muttered. "Bulbasuar!"

"Roselia, return! Fennekin!" Serena exclaimed, again switching out and going withhe trusty starter. Bulbasaur winced under the Toxic Spikes attack, but stood strong. Serena already knew she had this battle in the bag, her Fennekin thinking along the same lines as she was. Flames licking up her body, eyes glowing red, Fennekin charged forward, the powerful attack knocking out the grass type with a one-hit KO.

"Aw bien!" Prof. Sycamore exclaimed, though not seeming entirely disappointed with the loss. "Une perte est une perte, non?"

"Uh..." Serena glanced up from congratulating her Fennekin. "I can't speak French."

"You'll pick it up soon." Fire said with a laugh.

"Prof. Sycamore tends to spout random phrases in French." Trevor informed her. "You get used to it, really."

"Well now, you _do_ have a certain je ne sais quoi!" exclaimed Prof. Sycamore. "At first," he continued, placing his three pokémon onto a healing machine. "I was thinking of choosing only one child from a town when I was deciding who to give a Pokémon to. In Vaniville Town, it was going to be the child of a Veteran Trainer I know."

Serena glanced at Calem, knowing his parents were pretty decent trainers. He caught her glance, and shrugged.

"Shauna soon got word and instantly began begging Trevor for a pokémon. She was so enthusiastic, I had to oblige! About then, I learned that the Rhyhorn racer Grace and her daughter were moving here. Here in the Kalos region, you're far away from everything you used to know... That really hit me right here... Then it hit me-I should give you a Pokémon and have you travel around Kalos!" he whipped around with a grin on his face. "And look at you, you have such great potential! I am not at all disappointed that I lost, in fact, I'm not very strong to begin with!" he let out another chuckle. Everything was interrupted as Fire's pokégear rang out. He blinked, pulling out the phone with an awkward chuckle.

"'Scuse me for a moment." he said, answering the phone. Listening for a moment, he let out a low whistle. "She's already in Cyllage City? Damn. Us? We're in Lumiose, though there's a huge power outage. We can't get through the main streets." he let out an exasperated sigh. "Listen, if you can get in contact with her, tell her to stay where she is till we get there." another pause. "Yeah, we got them. The professor was real easy-going about it, you know?" he paused again. "Yeah, see you soon." he hung up, Dayna glancing at him with an amused look on her face.

"Gary?" she asked, looking as if she already knew the answer.

"Yup. He's pissed we're so far behind, even though he was the one that split us up. Now he wants us together again to meet up and, as you and I both know..."

"She's _waaaaay _far ahead again." Dayna said with an eye roll. She turned back to Prof. Sycamore. "Thanks for the info and items for Mega Evolution, I'm sure it will be helpful with our goal."

"Ah, anything for my niece!" Prof. Sycamore said with a wave of his hand. The five younger dexholder blanched.

"Y-You're his niece?!" exclaimed Serena, pointing at Dayna. Dayna looked over, slightly surprised, before laughing behind her hand.

"Me? Oh, no, we're talking about Leaf Green."

"YOU'RE LEAF GREEN'S UNCLE?!" Shauna exclaimed loudly, pointing to Prof. Sycamore. Said professor let out a hearty laugh.

"Yes, I am, and I'm very proud of my little niece. It's such a tragedy, though, that she and my dear sister Flora can never visit their family member." he let out a long sigh. "But with Obsidian passing, and dear little..." he paused. "So, so much tragedy in the Green family..."

"S-So you're related to Leaf Greens mother, correct?" Calem confirmed. Prof. Sycamore immediately perked up.

"Ah, yes, Flora is such a wonderful person, despite tragedy. Perhaps," he turned back towards Fire and Daya. "You could convince Leaf to bring her dear mother up here for a visit?"

"We'll see what we can do." Fire laughed. "You know how much the pokémon association hates it when we leave more than six months a year." he paused. "Seriously, I we need to get going and meet up with Gary. It was nice meeting all you guys, and good luck!"

"Maybe we'll run into each other on another occasion?" Dayna said thoughtfully. "It was nice seeing you again!" she waved over her shoulder as she followed Fire into the elevator.

"Hm... I have a good feeling about you!" Prof. Sycamore exclaimed, going behind his desk and holding out three more pokéballs. "Here, choose one!" he tossed the three pokéballs into the air. Out popped a Charmander, a Bulbasaur, and a Squirtle. "These are the Kanto starters." Serena glanced between her friends, and decided that there would be a repeat of her choosing first. She looked between the three, her gaze settling on the Squirtle in the middle.

"I'm going to take Squirtle." she decided, picking up the pokémon. He let out a happy cry as Serena rubbed the top of his head.

"I'm taking Charmander! He's so cute!" Shauna exclaimed.

"Then I'll take Bulbasaur." Calem said, reaching out to scratch the grass type on the head.

"Since you all chose one of these starters, I will give you this." he held out three different colored stone, passing one that went with the respective starter.

"Now that all this is done, I'd like to say a few words." he closed his eyes, ready to say his words of inspiration. "Be the best Trainer you can be! At the same time, remember to have fun traveling with your Pokémon! Also, I want to ask for your help in solving the Kalos region's biggest Pokémon mystery: the secret and potential of Mega Evolution, a new kind of Evolution that occurs in battle! That's why I gave you that Mega Stone just now. It's an important clue!"

"I'm guessing that you also asked the Kanto dexholders to help out with this, huh?" Calem asked, inspecting the green stone. Prof. Sycamore nodded enthusiastically.

"Now, if you're investigating Mega Evolution, why don't you check out Camphrier Town? That town has a lot of history-you might find a hint there!" Prof. Sycamore smiled. "Now listen. If you visit many different places to complete the Pokédex, you will probably see Pokémon with many ways of living and meet people with many ways of thinking. First, accept the ways of living and thinking that sometimes conflict with your own. And think about what's really important-this will truly broaden your horizons."

o.0.o.0.o

"I can't believe you still have this old thing, Prof. Sycamore." Trevor said, staring at the old piano that sat on one of the separate floors of the lab. Prof. Sycamore rolled his eyes.

"Ah, leave me alone. I could never bare to give it away. It's in perfect condition and plays perfectly!" Prof. Sycamore said. Serena blinked, running her hand across the top.

"It's beautiful instrument." Serena agreed.

"Oooh! Seré, you can play! Play something for the professor!" Shauna exclaimed, pushing Serena into the seat.

"Wha-What?! N-No!"

"You know, Seré," Calem said, taking his chin in his hand. "Prof. Sycamore gave you a pokédex, and not just one pokémon but _two. _Don't you think it would be rather rude not to play at least one song on this piano that he probably hasn't had anyone place in who knows how long?"

"If you want to repay him, how about _you _play him a little song?" Serena shot back. Calem shrugged, and sat next to Serena.

"Gah, no Cal-" Shauna began, but got cut off as Calem slammed his hands onto the keys, making an almost unbearable noise. He continued slamming down on random keys, the noise almost painful to listen to.

"Oh, my Arcreus!" Serena exclaimed, shoving him off the bench. Calem looked up, smirking, from the floor. "If you were trying to punish me, then I get it! Just don't ever, _ever _touch a piano ever again! I don't even think a professional teacher could fix _that." _she scowled, flexing her fingers and studying the keys for a moment. Letting out a breath, her fingers came down and began flying across the keys, making a much more beautiful sound than what Calem produced.

_"Making my way downtown  
Walking fast  
Faces pass  
And I'm homebound."_

A break between the lyrics as her fingers flew across the keys again, then slowing down.

_"Staring blankly ahead  
Just making my way  
Making a way  
Through the crowd_

_And I need you  
And I miss you  
And now I wonder..."_

_"If I could fall  
Into the sky  
Do you think time  
Would pass me by?  
'Cause you know I'd walk  
A thousand miles  
If I could just see you  
Tonight."_

Again, she paused singing, speeding up the playing again.

"_It's always times like these  
When I think of you  
And I wonder if you ever  
Think of me."_

_"Cause everything's so wrong  
I don't belong  
Living in your  
Precious memory_

_'"Cause I need you  
And I miss you  
And now I wonder..._

_"If I could fall  
Into the sky  
Do you think time  
Would pass me by?_

_"'Cause you know I'd walk  
A thousand miles  
If I could just see you  
Tonight."_

Her playing sped up, holding a steady speed and melody for a few moments before slowing down for the bridge.

_"And I, I  
Don't want to let you know  
I, I  
Drown in your memory  
I, I  
Don't want to let this go  
I, I  
Don't..."_

_"Making my way downtown  
Walking fast  
Faces pass  
And I'm homebound_

_Staring blankly ahead  
Just making my way  
Making a way  
Through the crowd._

_"And I still need you  
And I still miss you  
And now I wonder..."_

The playing slowed to the slowest point of the whole song, making her singing really evident.

"_If I could fall  
Into the sky  
Do you think time  
Would pass us by  
'Cause you know I'd walk  
A thousand miles  
If I could just see you..._

_"Oh, oh."_

The music sped up once again, Serena's fingers flying across the keys, her eyes practically closed.

"_If I could fall  
Into the sky  
Do you think time  
Would pass me by?_

_"'Cause you know I'd walk  
A thousand miles  
If I could just see you...  
If I could just hold you...  
Tonight."_

Serena ran her fingers across the keys a little more, finishing out the song. She came to a stop, and looked over at Calem.

"And that is how," she stood up, crossing her arms. "You play the piano."

"Marvelous! Absolument magnifique! Il a été si longtemps depuis que j'ai entendu comme jeu! Parfait!" Prof. Sycamore exclaimed. Serena raised an eyebrow. "Ah... you are not fluent in French. I forgot." he chuckled, then continued. "Like I said, perfect! Who taught you?"

"Dad." she answered simply, but in a tone that said, _'don't go into the subject'._

"Ah... alright..." Prof. Sycamore mumbled, catching her drift.

o.0.o.0.o

**Alright, I think that's long enough...**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	5. Ordinary Encounters?

**Hey, it's been a while since I updated this, huh? Sorry! I wanted to catch up on ****_Enlightening the Soul. _****So without further ado, I'll let you read this chapter!**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

Serena stretched her arms above her head as she rode the elevator downstairs. It was refreshing, really, to be able to play the piano like that. But she wanted to search around Lumiose City, maybe even check out the boutique she heard was here. Of course, Shauna babbled on about the PR video station, while Trevor and Tierno seemed eager to move to the next route to search for pokémon. Calem... well, she wasn't sure what he wanted. Calem was incredibly hard to read, unless he said what he wanted outright.

Adjusting her ball cap, she walked out of the elevator, only to see Sina talking to a man with a rather crazy hairstyle. His hair was bright orange, which Serena found strange enough, but the fact that it practically exploded from his head made it all the weirder. Other than his crazy hair and beard, he was dressed sharply, almost as if he was someone of importance in the Kalosian society

"So I'll be able to see them soon, then." he said to Sina. She nodded. "These teenagers chosen by the professor... I wonder what potential they hold.

"Yes." Turning to the sound of the elevator closing, she grinned. "In fact, here's one of them now! That's Serena. Serena, come over here for a sec!" Serena, raising an eyebrow, walked over to the the two.

"Oh! You received a pokédex from the professor then… How wonderful! That is a wonderful thing, indeed. You are one of the chosen ones." he said. Serena nodded.

"My name's Serena." she said, raising her hand for a handshake, seeing as it was the polite thing to do.

"I am Lysandre. I've tried to learn as much about Pokémon as I can to help build a brighter future. Professor Sycamore has taught me so much." his eyes traveled to her bag, where the Halo Caster hung. "Oh, I see you have a Halo Caster!"

"Uh, yeah. My mom got it for me a little while after arrived in Kalos."

"So you're not from around here? Then you will probably learn much from your journey. Knowledge is power, after all. Put it to good use." Serena nodded politely. "Now listen! It is vital that this world become a better place. And the people and Pokémon chosen to make the world better must work tirelessly to achieve this goal." Serena's stomach dropped at this, feeling suddenly uneasy around this man. Sure, making the world a better place was great and all... But he said it with scorn lacing the edges of his voice. Almost as if Lysandre was disgusted with society. "Well, I'll be off. Please give Professor Sycamore my best." he took a steps around Serena, and just barely, she heard him mutter the next sentence under his breath. "My desire…it is for a more beautiful world!"

Then he walked out of the building. Serena shuddered inwardly at him, feeling not at all comfortable with the heaviness that his presence left behind.

"I wonder..." Sina said aloud. "What beautiful world does Lysandre desire?" she shook her head in confusion, turning towards the elevator as Calem, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor stumbled out of it.

"Seré, you're so mean, making us wait!" Shauna exclaimed as she came up to her. Serena shrugged.

"You snooze you loose." Serena smiled. "Where're you all heading next?"

"OH! There's this one place that I reeaaallly wanna check out! The PR studio!" Shauna exclaimed.

"I think I'm going to head to route five." Trevor said. "There should be some new pokémon there for me to catch for the pokédex."

"Oh! Me too! I wanna try the skate park there." Tierno said. Calem came up to Serena and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I want to talk to you about something. I'll wait for you in Cafe Soleil, Seré!" he said, lowering his hand and then walking out of the building. Trevor looked after him curiously.

"I wonder what he wanted to talk to you about." the ginger mused quietly.

"I dunno." Tierno shrugged. "No idea why he has to be so hush-hush about it.

"Why couldn't he just say it in front of all of us?" Shauna asked.

"I can guess why." Sina said, a devious smirk on her face. The group of teens turned her way, wondering what her input was. "Isn't obvious? Calem plans to announce his amour éternel to Serena!" There was a long pause, before Tierno began snickering into the back of his hand, followed by the low chuckles of Trevor and laughter of Shauna. Sina stood there, a smirk dancing on her lips, while Serena looked just plain confused, suddenly wishing she had a Enligh-French phrasebook or dictionary to translate the french tidbit that seemed so funny to her three friends.

"What's amour éternel mean?" Serena finally asked, feeling rather stupid by not catching the joke. Sina rolled her eyes, then shook her head.

"Nothing you need to know." Sina said, steering the honey-haired girl towards the door. "No go get 'em, champ!"

o.0.o.0.o

"What took you so long? Get lost?" Calem asked teasingly, hand lowering from scratching Froakie, who sat stubbornly on his head, refusing to budge. Serena, Ralts held carefully in her arms, furrowed her brows in irritation.

"This city is crazy! First I went down the wrong street and somehow ended up in a stone emporium where some guy was trying to sell me a mega stone for an utterly _ridiculous _price. Then I got dragged into a herb shop where some guy was trying to shove herbs into my hands, and when I didn't buy, he wanted me to _make tea _for him. After that, I got to the clothing store, but was kicked back into the street because I wasn't fashionable enough! On top of that, I kept on getting turned down by engineers who won't let me down any more streets because of the power outage and-"

"You got bangs." Calem said, cutting her off. Serena blinked, reaching up to gingerly touch the hair that fell against her forehead.

"That's another whole story. Forcefully dragged into a salon and some eccentric hairdresser exclaimed I'd look 'absolutely stunning' with bangs." she crossed her arms with a huff. "And she was right. I like the bangs."

"Well, they do look nice on you." Calem nodded. Serena averted her gaze, a smile playing at her lips. Calem nodded towards the door. "C'mon, lets go inside." Politely holding the door open for the girl, Serena walked inside the café, taking in the deep scent of this one, which smelled surprisingly like cake. Don't blame her, every café she stumbled into thus far had it's own unique scent to it, from bread to coffee to even Furfrou fur. That, she will admit, was an unusual experience.

Sitting across from Calem as he slid into a booth, she glanced around curiously, letting her pink bag fall from her shoulder. She smirked, noticing Froakie was still atop Calems head as he glanced over the menu.

"Hey," she said teasingly, giggling behind her hand. "No hats in the restaurant." Calem blinked his gray eyes, glancing-or at least trying to- back up at Froakie.

"Hey, buddy, c'mon." he said. "We're in a restaurant, you know. Can you sit on my lap?" Froakie, rolling his eyes in an irritated manner, hopped onto Calem's outstretched arm, then onto the trainers lap. His eyes glanced to the side, then widened, turning his head fully to the two adults a little ways away. "Hey, isn't that Diantha and... Lysandre?" Serena moved her gaze as well, tilting her head to the side as she spotted Lysandre and a pretty woman whom she assumed to be Diantha. Faintly, she remembered seeing advertisements and magazine articles about the woman, knowing that she was rather famous in Kalos.

"You played a young girl so wonderfully in your debut on the silver screen." Lysandre complimented. "Wouldn't you rather remain young and beautiful forever and always play such roles?"

"What a strange question..." Diantha said, thoughtfully tapping her chin to find an answer. "Why would I want to play the same old roles forever? Youth may be beautiful, but it's not all there is to life. Everything changes." she paused, mulling over what to say next. "I want to live and change like that, too. So I look forward to playing different roles as I get older."

"What an odd couple..." Serena mumbled under her breath. She still got that awfully eerie aura from Lysandre, though couldn't exactly place why. She did not like it, though.

"It's not all that weird." Calem said. "I mean, both are pretty famous, what with Lysandre owning Lysandre Labs and Diantha being a famous movie star. They're bound to run into each other on occasion."

""You were chosen to be a movie star, correct? Isn't it your duty to be ever beautiful?" Lysandre closed his eyes. "Everything beautiful should stay that way forever. I would make this world unchanging and eternal so all beauty will last forever." his serene expression twisted into a scowl, fist clenching in anger as he opened his eyes. "I can't stand the thought of the world becoming uglier." he turned his gaze towards them, eyebrows rising at seeing the two. "Oh. Hello, Serena. And this is...?"

"Calem, sir." Calem responded politely.

"Ah, Calem. Another one of Sycamores pupils, I presume?" he nodded, turning towards Diantha. "This is Diantha, one of the most accomplished movie stars in Kalos. She moves the multitudes with her excellent acting... Which is to say, she dedicates her life to making other people happy. Oh! If only everyone were like her. What a beautiful world this would be! If you'll excuse me..." Lysandre then got up and promptly walked out of the café. The two teens blinked, turning their attention back to Diantha, who promptly paid the bill for the coffee the two drank.

"And you two are?" Diantha asked, scratching her cheek bashfully. "I didn't quite get your names, what with Lysandres rant and all."

"I'm Calem, and this is Serena." Calem said. Serena smiled to herself, remembering how they both seemed to have introduced themselves to people quite a few times today.

"You both have lovely names." She smiled, glancing down at Ralts and Froakie. "Oh, and you're both trainers! Don't your pokémon look happy?"

"Thanks." Serena and Calem uttered at the same time. Both shot a look to each other, trying to hold back laughter.

"Anyways, I do believe hearing Lysandre say that you guys are working under Augustine?" Diantha continued, smiling. Serena blinked.

"Who?" she asked, blinking in confusion.

"Prof. Sycamore." Calem said. "His first name is Augustine."

"Oh. Then yeah, we're working on the pokédex for him."

"And mega evolution." Calem said, then smirking. "Though I'll accomplish that feat first." Serena rolled her eyes.

"_Please_, Calem, I'm gonna do it first, you know that!" Serena said. Calem smiled dryly.

"We'll see, Seré, we'll see." he responded. "Prof. Sycamore already gave us pokémon and a mega stone to go with it." Diantha tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Pokémon, you say?"

"Yeah, a Kanto starter." Serena said. "I chose Squirtle, and Calem chose Bulbasaur." Diantha widened her eyes.

"Ah, I see, so you _are _studying mega evolution." she said. "You've both got that spark in your eye, I can see it! I may have something that will help your quest, though it's not nearly as good as a pokémon or a pokédex." she reached into her purse, digging around a bit, before pulling out two stones that seemed to greatly contrast each other. One consisted of pinks and greens, whereas other was made up of dark grays and blacks.

"Those are Mega Stones, right?" Serena asked, staring at the stones in awe, the quickly glancing back up at the movie star. "We can't accept these!" Diantha laughed, pushing the lighter colored one into her hands and the darker colored one into Calem's.

"That one is Gardivoirite." she said, nodding towards Serena. "And the one you have, Calem, is Absolite."

"As in... Gardivoir and and Absol?" Calem muttered, studying the stone. "They have Mega Evolutions?" Diantha nodded.

"Possibly. I really have no need for either of them, so I was hoping to find Augustine's pupils to perhaps take them for me." she looked off to the distance for a moment. "In my spare time," she continued. "I am also a pokémon trainer. Perhaps next time we meet, we can battle?" and with a small smile and a wave, she walked out of the cafe, leaving the two trainers with their newly acquired mega stones. Serena blinked, still staring at the smooth stone sitting in her palm.

"Alright, do _all _important people just leave so promptly like that here in Kalos?" Serena finally asked, passing the mega stone off to Ralts, who stared at it curiously, eyes wide with awe from the power she felt flowing from it. Calem chuckled, tucking his own mega stone into his bag.

"Not all, but some. I'm sure that their are some people who are like that in other regions. Like, say, Leaf Green. The famous champion who-"

"Secluded herself upon Mt. Silver, coming and go as she pleases." Serena finished. "I've heard stories that no one has ever beat her, though only few came close."

"That's because only few would take the treacherous trip up to Mt. Silver." Calem responded. "So far, only two are known to have gone up and battle her. Lyra Kotone and her rival, Gary Oak." Calem paused for a minute. "Speaking of rivals, Serena, I wanted to ask you something. How about you and I compete and see who ends up stronger?" again her paused, glancing away from her. "I know we set off on our journey just after you arrived in Vaniville, but we are neighbors, and having a competition with you sounds like fun." he turned his attention back to her, determination sparking in his eyes. "So what do you say?" Serena smirked.

"I rivalry, huh? Sounds challenging. I'm always one for a challenge." Serena responded. Calem smirked.

"I won't lose though. Just so you know."

"Just so I know?" Serena repeated. "Well then," she folded her hands, leaning forward slightly, a playful smirk on her face. "_Just so you know, _Calem, every challenge I take, I take seriously. If you want a rivalry, you just met one with more fiery determination than even the depths of hell can conjure up."

o.0.o.0.o

Her long brown hair that reached her lower back whipped around her as deep green eyes, similar to the color of leaves on the trees of a forest, stared down at Shalour City. It was nighttime, sun just lowering over the horizon.

If one was even out, and happened to be staring where she was, they'd see a young woman, age of twenty, wearing a long-sleeved, cut off, skin-tight turtleneck, flat stomach revealed despite the temperatures as they lowered along with the sun. Her shoulders were covered by a green shawl, similar to the one that the grass-type gym leader Gardenia of Eterna City wore. Skinny jeans adorned her legs, dull brown boots-the straps around the ankles holding them in place- flaring up only slightly after the ankles. Around her waist was a brown belt, two pockets on the side.

Leaf Green stared silently, taking in all the sights as the city slowly died down, falling into sleep. It truly was a magnificent thing, to see a city, usually so busy and bustling with roller skaters, fall to sleep into serene quietness. But seeing it from the height of the Tower of Mastery was all the more beautiful.

Slowly, she inclined her head upwards, watching as her Pidgeot flew down. She rose an eyebrow, and her pokémon shook her head. She nodded, smiling. The young woman ran her hand across the nicked and old pokéballs, six of her friends, her companions, her partners. She reached for Pidgeots, and returned the bird, saying nothing, eyes full of praise for her beloved bird. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes, tilting her head back even farther. Such a peaceful night.

Leaf, renown champion of Kanto, has finally managed to reach Kalos, a new region, a new challenge. She reached into the pocket at the right hip of her belt, feeling the pokédex that she had upgraded thanks to Gary and the professors, a small stack of pictures, held together by a rubber band, her wallet, her halo caster, and finally, a badge case. This, she pulled out.

Popping it open, she glanced at her many victories over the years. The badges of Kanto, when she was just fourteen, then those of Johto at fifteen, not to different from Kanto, though a pain to travel since everyone knew her face then. The Hoenn league, a fun new experience, traveling through the islands on the back of her gentle Lapras, and then Sinnoh, an absolutely frigid region, but nothing she couldn't handle. Unova was a fun region, she decided, filled with many more sights and attractions she never would've imagined seeing. And now Kalos.

Leaf Green had conquered every gym in every region, a huge accomplishment at her young age, earning the eight badges of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and now starting on Kalos. So far, she had three. Slowly, she uncurled her other hand, pressing the newly acquired Rumble Badge into it's slot. Korrina certainly didn't hold back, Mega Evolving her Lucario as a last resort. This mega evolution, new and unusual to Leaf, proved to be a challenge, even against her seasoned and experienced Flareon.

She slid the badge case back into the right pocket, this one holding all her important items, the left one holding minimal medical supplies. Leaf glanced down at the city again, and slowly reached into her back pocket, pulling out a necklace.

It was shaped like a leave, silver veins of the replica wrapping around a multi-colored stone. She knew what this was. It was the other half to mega evolution, the 'Key Stone'. It took her and her three companions- close friends Dayna Yellow and Fire Red, and boyfriend of nearly six years, Gary Oak- a long time to find these stones, and gain the trust and accountability to be granted the Mega Stones.

Leaf frowned slightly, remembering Gary. What a horrible girlfriend she was. After each trip to each region in search of her long lost sister, she used to just stay in Pallet Town with her mother, who was both delighted and slightly disappointed-despite her futile attempts to hide it- when she came home empty handed of the young Serenity Green. After her return from Johto, however, Leaf realized just how nosy people where. A romantic getaway with Gary Oak? Secretly cheating on him with Fire Red? Is Serenity even real? Is she just a publicity stunt? It sickened her to no end.

She began to seclude herself atop the snowy peaks of Mt. Silver, growing accustomed to drastic temperatures, thus able to stand in the chilly night air in a cut off. She knew that if someone was _really _that strong and bent to challenge her, they'd reach her at the top of the mountain. Leaf remembered, about three years after the fall of Giovanni, when a young fourteen-year-old girl climbed the mountain, fiery determination in her brown eyes. The girl had lost, though, so in a way, her attempts were all for nothing. Leaf faintly remembered hearing that she had beaten Lance, yet turned down the championship title. She smiled at this, glad that the fiery determination would never leave that girl. She was as free as a bird, not chained down like she was. Not bound by honor and the title. Leaf shook her head.

She knew she was changing, slowly falling from her happy, witty self to cold and stoic. If she knew it, then how could she hide it from Gary? Leaf loved him with all her heart, she really did. But the mass media stalking them whenever they were together... She couldn't handle it. She hated it, hated it how people _assumed _so many things about her. She's read the tabloids, angrily ordering her Flareon to burn them soon after. She hated everything, how everyone seemed to care less about how she felt. Every single emotion was broadcasted, every action announced. It drove Leaf to what she was today, cold, stoic, emotionless. To hide from the media, not from her friends.

Slowly, her hand curled around the mega charm in her hand, the metal pressing into her skin. When was the last time she saw her friends, together? Were Fire and Dayna still together? Did Gary give up on her yet? _Probably_, she decided on the first question. _Probably not, _on the second. Perhaps she should go on a date with him, catch up. No one seemed to recognize them here, sure, a few double takes, but nothing like the screaming stampedes in Johto. No one even asked who she was as of yet, only the gym leaders, whom she had to introduce herself to, and the mega evolution Guru, whom was kind enough to give her rooms while she awaited her friends.

Slowly, she shook her head. She knew what Gary was thinking, she could read him so well. But she would never be ready for such commitment until she at least found Serenity, alive or dead. She needed that closure.

Slowly, she reached up, clasping the mega charm around her neck. Something warm dribbled down her cheek, and she blinked, reaching up and swiping at the tears, staring at the glistening drops like they were some sort of foreign element. She was crying? Strange. She hadn't cried for _years. _How very strange. She swiped them aside again.

Perhaps this reunion with Fire, Dayna, and Gary would do her good. And she also heard that there were some new pokédex holders, pupils of Prof. Sycamore. Perhaps she'd get to meet her juniors? Then she smiled, a soft, small smile that she hadn't had on her face in years.

Kalos was different from other regions. A region where no one knew her by her face, a region where cameras weren't constantly shoved into her life, where she didn't need to fear ridiculous tabloids. It was like when she was fourteen: naive, brimming with hope for the future, excitement to battle everyone for any reason.

Here, she was just another, completely ordinary trainer.

o.0.o.0.o

**Hey, officially, I'm ungrounded tomorrow! Again, sneaking my typing. XD**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	6. Fireworks We'll Never Forget

**WHOOOOOOOOO! FREEDOM! UNGROUNDED, AND I'M SO HAPPY! ^.^**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

THUD!

"Merde!" Serena exclaimed, rubbing her hind end. Conclusion: The smooth pavement of the small skatepark outside of Lumiose City hurts when you fall on it. Calem skated over to her, a smirk on his face.

"See? You're picking up on the native language already!" he laughed, pulling out his earbuds and extending a hand to help her up. Serena scowled, crossing her arms stubbornly. Calem raised an eyebrow. "Do you plan on sitting in the dirt all day?" She blinked, then took his outstretched hand, allowing him to pull her up... only so that she would fall again. Calem raised an eyebrow, somehow still standing and holding Serena's hand, whereas the girl was getting her jeans awfully dirty from trying to master roller skating. "You suck at this."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." she muttered under her breath, ears and cheeks a slight hue of red, squeezing his hand tighter and pushing herself up again, legs wobbling and threatening to fall.

"Why are you so bent on doing this?" he asked. Serena glanced up at him.

"Because I can." she said.

"That's not an answer." Calem responded.

"Yes it is." Serena said. "Stop talking. You're distracting me." he raised an eyebrow. Serena's legs began wobbling again. "Okay... So, uh, you gonna catch an Absol?" Calem raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you said my talking was distracting you." he responded.

"I lied. I think I'm gonna-" she shrieked slightly, feeling her legs wobble from under her. Calem's other hand shot out, grasping her arm to keep her steady. "I think I'm gonna fall again." Calem smirked slightly, skating a few inches forward to see if she'd notice. She didn't.

"Alright. Yeah, I think I might. I would like to master Mega Evolution, set myself apart from other trainers." he inched forward a few more inches, and she followed. He smirked. "What about you? Going to put that Gardivoirite to use?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed. Slowly, Calem lowered his hand from her arm, and pulled her forward a few more inches. They began skating at a steady pace, though Serena hardly seemed to notice. "I'm excited to learn about it. We never had anything like this in other regions!"

"Well, you've got four members on your team. Two slots left. What are you thinking of catching?"

"An Eevee. Or receive an Eevee. I'd love to have one, they're so cute! They're hard to come by though, you either receive them or find them by chance. And all the possibilities to evolve them! It'd be so hard to choose between the seven evolutions!"

"There's eight, you know." Calem said.

"Eh?" Serena asked, cocking her head to the side.

"You remember Sina talking about the new fairy type they recently confirmed?"

"Uh-huh." Serena responded, utterly transfixed on learning of this new eeveelution.

"Well, Sylveon is a fairy-type eeveelution." Serena widened her eyes.

"I want one." she said almost immediately. "Think of the possibilities! I've never even got to work with a fairy type before, so this is great!" she smiled happily. Calem felt himself smile despite himself.

"Hey Seré, there's something I want to point out to you." he said. She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"One: We're still holding hands." he chuckled inwardly, seeing her ears go a deeper shade of red.

"S-Shut up!" she exclaimed, though refusing to release her grip on his hand.

"And two, you're skating."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "No way!" Slowly, Calem shook his hand from hers, she kept on going. "Gah! Calem!" she exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder.

"You're doing it, Seré! You're doing just fine!" Calem exclaimed, skating just a little behind her. She focused ahead.

"Quick question!" she asked, coming upon a cone in her way. "How do I turn?!" To late, she realized. She hit the cone, and felt herself falling backwards, only to have Calem catch her and hold her up by her upper arms, saving her from no doubt another terribly painful fall. Slowly and gently, he lowered her to the ground. He skated around her, and slowly sat next to her. "I was skating." she said quietly, a small grin on her face.

"You were skating." he responded. "How do you think I learned?"

"By listening to your own voice?" Serena asked jokingly. Calem laughed.

"No, but my dad taught me. He kept on talking and going on about his travels, and then, before I knew it, I was going. Though I," he glanced at her, laughter twinkling in his eyes. "Had trouble stopping. Skated right into a stream!" Serena tried to imagine that for a moment, then laughed. "So I figured, maybe if I talked to you, you'd get so distracted, you wouldn't think about the skating!" Serena smiled, placing her hand over his.

"Thanks. Now if I could just get to work on that turning, all will be good!" Serena grinned, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side. Calem felt his ears heat up, and pulled at the collar of his jacket with his spare hand. Was it him or was it getting warmer?

"Lucario, wait!" suddenly, the humanoid pokémon pounced on Serena, one paw powering up an aura sphere, holding it dangerously close to her face. Serena let out a small squeak of surprise, staring up at the pokémons intense eyes.

"Hey, knock it off!" exclaimed Calem, pulling off his skates and standing up, reaching for a pokéball. Lucario turned his intense glare to him, and he flinched. Slowly, the Lucario lowered its glowing palm, the attack fizzling out. Serena scurried back, pushing her skates off and standing next to Calem.

"Sorry about that!" A girl around their age said skating up to them, a second Lucario at her side. "I was doing some special training with my Lucario, when it suddenly ran off!" Lucario continued to stare intently at Serena, as if trying to read her. Then it looked down, slowly shaking its head. The owner of the two pokémon looked curiously at it. "Hey, Lucario, what's wrong with you? Did you get drawn by this girls aura or something?"

"Aura...?" Serena asked, adjusting her black baseball cap. Lucario glanced up, arms crossed, an intense glare fixed on his face.

"Oh, I get it! I think your aura may be similar to that one woman's! Is that it, Lucario?" Lucario let out a low growl. "See, yesterday evening, we got challenged by this _craaazy _strong trainer. We're talking insane strong. We had to put our special training to use, you see, and Lucario never ever lost when he had to go into that. Well... he lost. I think he was searching for her or another trainer that would match up to her..." she paused, then smacked her forehead. "Oops! I was on such a roll, I forgot to even introduce myself! I'm Korrina, the Shalour City Gym Leader."

"I'm Serena."

"And I'm Calem. We're both collecting gym badges." Korrina tilted her head to the side with a smile.

"Serena and Calem... I'll remember that! If you're collecting Gym Badges, I'm sure we'll be battling sooner or later! I'm looking forward to it. I hope you know how to roll with the punches!" she turned around, skating away with one of her Lucario in tow. The one that tackled Serena stared intently at her once more, then nodded, running after his trainer.

o.0.o.0.o

Serena smiled as she came across the small, peaceful Camphrier Town. She glanced down at Fennekin in her arms, and then around the town, taking in the buildings made of old stone, the dirt paths and small trees that served as the only decoration for the entire town. She traveled around the beaten paths, talking to townsfolk, even finding a star piece! Tucking the valuable item away in her purse, she turned around, and decided to actually get some work done.

"Hey, Seré!" Serena turned to the oh so optimistic Shauna, who jogged up to her while half-leading-half-dragging Trevor, Tierno running after them. Serena smile and waved.

"Hey you guys!" Serena smiled, waving to them. "How's the egg, Shauna?"

"Great! Watch this!" she turned towards Trevor, grabbed his hand, and placed it next to hers on the egg. Serena raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently, when suddenly, the egg twitched. "Did you see?! Did you?!" Serena laughed.

"Yep! I saw. I think it likes Trevor." Shauna beamed at this.

"I know! I'm so excited for it to hatch. So..." she glanced around. "You here for Mega Evolution too?"

"Well, that was why the professor sent us here, right?" Trevor said, shaking his hand free of Shauna's.

"Maybe we should head to Shabboneau Castle. I hear that there is a person who knows a lot about history there. Maybe he'll know something about Mega Evolution!" Tierno chimed in. Serena nodded, and turned, walking towards the said castle while talking to the trio about how their own goals were going. Soon, they came upon the castle.

"...Sadly, we are in so much debt that everything had to be given up as payment. The castle now sits completely empty, but is open to visitors." a black belt finished speaking. Serena glanced to the side, and saw Calem, who was holding his chin in his hand thoughtfully.

"Anything about Mega Evolution, Diachi?" he asked. The Black Belt-whom Serena assumed was Diachi- tilted his head curiously.

"Mega Evolution? No, I know nothing about that subject." he glanced up, looking at Serena, Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno. "Who are you?" Calem glanced over his shoulder.

"Hey guys." he said, smiling. "This is Diachi, and I guess he's the mayor of Camphrier Town. He said he doesn't know anything about Mega Evolution, though."

"Aw! Absolutely nothing?" Shauna exclaimed, somewhat disappointed. Diachi shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry."

"I suppose," Trevor said. "We should tell Professor Sycamore about this, and ask him for more leads on Mega Evolution." Tierno glanced between the group and shrugged.

"I guess so." he said.

"Excuse me," a young man said, stepping around the group to talk to Diachi. "Sir, it's back again." Diachi's face paled visibly.

"So soon? Oh Arceus..." he glanced at the five teenagers. "Please excuse me." he quickly followed after the young man. Shauna glanced at the exit, then turned to her four friends, spare hand on her hip.

"Should we follow them?" she asked. Serena tilted her head to the side.

"Maybe we should... I mean, it would only be right to help them, right?" with nods of agreement, the five teenagers walked out of the castle, following Diachi outside of the town and onto the next route. There, they saw a Snorlax sleeping on a bridge, absolutely blocking the path onto the next town.

"Crap." Diachi muttered. "This is bad."

"Can't you just use the flute?" the young man whom alerted Diachi asked. The black belt shook his head.

"I'm afraid not..."

"You handed it over?" Diachi nodded grimly in response.

"What seems to be the problem? Other than Snorlax, I mean." Trevor asked politely. Diachi turned their way, raising an eyebrow.

"You followed us? Ah, never mind, maybe you five can help me."

"What do you want us to do?" Tierno asked.

"See, for some reason, this Snorlax always comes down from the mountains and decides to fall asleep right here, on the bridge connecting us to Cyllage City and Ambrette Town. Not only is this a problem for traveling trainers like yourself, but Camphrier citizens set up a barter system with Cyllage and Ambrette for items such as food and clothing, where we need to travel to actually trade."

"Question!" Shauna exclaimed. "Why not just travel to Lumiose? It's closer."

"Shauna." Trevor hissed, catching on instantly.

"No, it's fine." Diachi chuckled. "Lumiose won't accept our barter offers, unfortunately. Besides, we are in a huge amount of debt, so buying our necessities isn't exactly an option." he turned back to the slumbering Snorlax with a sigh. "You see, I used to use the Pokéflute to wake Snorlax up, but I handed it over to the owner of Parfum palace to pay for my debt..."

"We'll get it back for you!" Serena said suddenly. "I mean, surely he'll understand if you guys might end up starving, right?"

"You might think that now, but that man is nothing more than a low, greedy, awful, son of a-"

"Jason!" Diachi said, cutting off the young man whom stood rather silently till now. Jason raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms with a stubborn huff.

"What? It's true." he grumbled. He glanced over at Serena, specifically, her Fennekin. "Listen, girlie, heed my warning. That guy always wants something in return. So watch your pokémon, got it?" Serena swallowed awkwardly, the sudden drop of her stomach making her wish she hadn't even offered her help at all.

o.0.o.0.o

"One-thousand poké?!" exclaimed Shauna in shock as the butler guarding the gate held his hand out patiently for their money. Serena had her mouth agape at this outrageous pricing, only for an entrance!

"Per a person, ma'am." the butler responded, retracting his hand and folding them behind his back.

"Per a person?!" exclaimed Tierno, Trevor nodding in agreement.

"This is outrageous!" exclaimed Calem. The butler swallowed uncomfortably.

"The owner is a man who believes you can never make enough money." the butler said. Serena let out a low sigh, digging through her wallet.

"Lets just pay." she grumbled, pulling out some bills, wincing slightly seeing that most came from her spare savings. "Let's just pay and get the flute." With some disgruntled sighs, her four friends pulled out their respective wallets and carefully counted out the right amount.

"There!" Shauna said, handing her money over along with the rest of them. The butler nodded apologetically. "There's your money!" the butler again nodded, and turned towards the gates, typing in a complicated password. With a few beeps and a fingerprint scan, "The money we charge from visitors goes towards repairing the castle," he said quietly, turning back to them "I'm sure."

Somehow, the five trainers couldn't be so sure.

"C'mon, Fennekin." Serena said to her faithful partner. The fox barked in agreement, walking next to her trainer faithfully. They all stared in awe at the intricate carvings and designs on the castle, almost as if they were walking into a glittering treasure chest. The huge, oak doors swung open neatly, and they stepped inside.

"My Furfrou! My darling Furfrou!" exclaimed a rather chubby and stout man whom was dressed in expensive-looking clothing as he ran back and forth in a panic. "She's gone! My darling Furfrou! She disappeared!" he ran off into another room, a door slamming. Serena glanced at Calem.

"Maybe we should look for it? The Furfrou, I mean." Calem said. "It'd probably be best if we try to do something for him before we ask him for a favor."

"I guess you're right..." Trevor sighed. "Though he doesn't seem like the type to be exactly appreciative of our efforts..." Regardless, the five decided to split up and search for the missing pokémon. Shauna took off to ask other guests, while Trevor and Tierno decided to look through the rooms. Leaving Calem and Serena to search the gardens.

"You know," Serena said, staring at the huge statues of Reshriham and Zekrom in front of her. "You'd think a guy with enough money to have stone statues of legendary pokémon would have enough money to provide the necessities for a town as small as Camphrier Town."

"Yeah, but remember what Jason said," Calem responded. "He's greedy."

"Yeah..." Serena sighed "So when we find this pokémon, don't run up on her, okay?" she said. "Then she'd get scared and run off. If she's trimmed, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was, that'll make it even harder to catch her." Calem raised his eyebrows.

"Has little Seré been reading up on the Kalosian pokémon?" he teased, poking her cheek playfully. Serena's eyebrows furrowed in mock irritation as she swatted his hand away, the serious look slipping into a smile.

"Maybe I have." she said, flicking his forehead. Calem smirked, reaching to flick her in payback. Serena skillfully dodged, and pivoted on her heel and bolted.

"Serena! I demand an apology!" Calem yelled dramatically, chasing after her. Serena stole a quick glance over her shoulder, slightly surprised to see that the young man had almost caught up to her, despite her five second head start. She let out a laugh, trying to speed up her steps. "Gotcha!" Calem exclaimed, his arms suddenly wrapping around her waist. She laughed as he literally picked her up off the ground.

"Calem, c'mon!" she exclaimed, kicking her legs out as her baseball cap from the previous day fell from her head.

"An apology!" Calem said, chuckling himself as Serena continued to wriggle around trying to get free.

"No!" she exclaimed, laughing.

"Hey, Seré, Cal! I think-" Shauna paused walking up to them. Tilting her head to the side curiously, she grinned. "Whatcha doin'?" Serena suddenly felt her entire face go red, and slowly, Calem lowered her to the ground. She shuffled about arms length away, while Calem leaned down, picking up her hat and brushing the dust off it.

"Nothing." Calem said calmly, though his face was tinted a slight pink. "Just horsing around."

"Uh-huh." Shauna said with a slight roll of her eyes. "Listen, I think I heard a bark out here. You mustn't have heard it over all your horsing around." she snickered slightly behind her hand.

"Oh, just s-shut up!" Serena exclaimed. "Where was the barking coming from?" Shauna nodded her head to the left.

"Somewhere around those hedges." she responded. Serena turned, putting her hat back on her head.

"Be quiet, so we don't scare her off." Calem said as the trio made their way to the hedge maze.

"To late for that." Serena said, watching amusingly as Trevor and Tierno chased around a swift Furfrou with a heart trim. The pokémon came rushing over to them, and Calem darted around to get the pokémon to go back.

"Shauna, go over to that corner adjacent to Trevor!" he ordered. "I'll get the one near Tierno! Serena, I think there's a dead end up ahead. Lets corner her there!"

"Got it!" Shauna exclaimed, jogging off to her given section. Serena ran off to the dead end, while Calem, Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno forced the pokémon into the end. The Furfrou fell for the trap, running into the dead end. Serena walked down it, expecting the pokémon to get angry or defensive, but instead saw it rolling around in the dirt, trying to get it's fur all dirty and, well, free.

"Aww..." Serena said, watching as the pokémon bounded over, laying down at her feet, begging for her to pet her. She reached out, ruffling her fur, getting her expensive coat even more messy, matted, and dirty than rolling in the dirt already had. "You didn't like that awful haircut, huh?" slowly the fur returned how it was originally before the trim. At this, Furfrou licked her cheek affectionately.

"You got her!" exclaimed Shauna as she came upon them with the boys behind her. "Aww, she's so cute~!"

"Yeah." Serena said, running her hand across Furfrous fur. "She doesn't like the trim. She just wanted someone to fix it back to the way it was."

"My darling Furfrou!" exclaimed the owner. "Oh, my little Furfrou! Why did you leave daddy? And whatever happened to your beautiful trim? Did these awful commoners ruin it on you?" he shook his head, hooking a leash to the pokémons collar, dragging her away from Serena. "Whatever! The fact that you have been found only proves our bond and how strong it is! Come, Fufrou, and young trainers! Night has fallen! To celebrate, I shall put on a spectacular display of Furfrou fireworks! The servants shall lead the way!" he trotted away with his pokémon, leaving the five trainers on their own.

"You know," Serena said, standing up, slightly annoyed by the 'commoner' comment. "With a trainer like that, I wouldn't want to be around him either."

"Yeah, but..." Shauna swallowed. "I really wanna see the fireworks!"

"I suppose..." Trevor said, glancing at the sky, seeing it darken ever so slightly. "I didn't even realize the sun had set!"

"Well, time flies when you're having fun, I suppose." Calem said, moving his gaze away from the few stars that began to shine merrily above them. "I guess we'll have to watch them then ask him for the flute." They nodded, and made their way back to the mansion, where immediately they were bombarded by servants, who constantly chattered about about how they could serve them food or drink(which they refused politely), then continued to compliment them on anything and everything. Soon they were lead onto an extraordinary balcony, with Dratini fountains pouring water into the pristine pond below. Slowly, they walked towards the edge, glancing at the view of the glittering waters and lit up fountains below.

"You know," Serena said, leaning on the balcony, waiting for the show that was promised. "I never had many friends before this. Not much outside the pokémon my mom owned." she swallowed, smiling. "My dad was way overprotective. Sometimes he wouldn't even let me leave the house without an adult. And even if he wasn't so overprotective and I did manage to make friends, we'd just up and move for any reason. Moms racing, change of pace, a new job that didn't seem to last long..." Serena just shook her head for a moment. "So now we're in Kalos, and my mom is retired in Vaniville and I actually have friends." she smiled softly, then stood straight, turning to look at them. "I just wanted all you guys to know that I'm never, ever going to forget these fireworks with you, my very first friends, okay?"

A pop sounded out behind them, followed by a boom. Serena turned, smiling as fireworks lit up the sky behind them.

"Look!" Shauna laughed as a Pikachu head formed from the lights. "It's so cute!" Suddenly, the egg in her arms twitched, and she looked down at it. "You like it too, don't ya little fella?" the egg twitched again, and suddenly, cracks began to form along the edges. Shauna let out a squeal. "Oh my Arceus! Trevor! Guys! Come look, its hatching!" The four other trainers turned abruptly from the show above them towards the egg in Shauna's arms. Another crack appeared, and then the egg suddenly started glowing. Slowly the glowing faded, and sitting in Shauna's arms was a small pokémon with a spiky pale yellow head, stubby arms and feet, and wearing half its shell.

"Toge-piiiiiii!" it exclaimed happily, waving it's arms back and forth.

"A Togepi!" exclaimed Serena. "Shauna, you're lucky! They're so rare, even in Johto, their home region!"

"Yeah..." Shauna said, looking at the cute pokémon. "Yeah, I guess you're right! It's so cute! We're gonna be great friends, Togepi, I promise!"

"Piiii!" Togepi exclaimed happily, seemingly loving its new trainer.

"Well, now we're never going to forget this!" exclaimed Calem, slapping Trevor on the back. "Trevor became a daddy!"

"Calem!" exclaimed Trevor, face going red. "Shut up!" Calem snickered.

"Nope!" he exclaimed.

"Ooooh, look Togepi!" exclaimed Shauna, turning the pokémon around so that it could look at the display above them. "It's the grand finale!" Serena smiled, letting out 'oohs' and 'aahs' along with Shauna, smiling and pointing out the grand display.

"Never going to forget this, huh?" Calem asked quietly, a hint of teasing in his voice. "Not ever?"

"Nope." Serena said with a smile, teasing hiding in her own voice as she continued to speak. "Don't tease me about this, it's important to me." Calem rolled his eyes.

"You must be a really lonely soul to hold an event like firework watching with this group of idiots so close to your heart." Calem said, chuckling at the end. Serena shook her head, grinning despite herself. Perhaps they _were _a couple of idiots, what with Shauna and how she could get excited so easily, or Tierno with his random bursts of dancing, and even Trevor, with his lack to make a freaking move on Shauna. She furrowed her eyebrows. She'd have to somehow think of a way to get them alone together.

She turned her head towards Calem, taking in his profile as he stared up at the few remaining minutes of fireworks. She could imagine enlisting him for help... but she could also imagine that he would lock them in a closet for an unknown amount of time, then tease them relentlessly. He glanced at her at the corner of her eye, and then turned his head.

"Hey, Serena," he said, smirking. "You're staring." Serena felt her face go red, and she glanced away, hiding her eyes under the shadows from the brim of her baseball cap, though not entirely hiding the small smile on her face.

"S-Shut up, stupid."

o.0.o.0.o

**Sorry for the long wait. For some reason, I got a block when writing this. XD Anyways, very cute, and I hope you enjoy!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


	7. An UN-Relaxing Fear

**I dunno, felt strangely inspired. Enjoy~!**

**Amy47101 does not own pokémon.**

o.0.o.0.o

_The Adventure Saga_

_The Reality of Serenity_

o.0.o.0.o

Serena let out a sigh as she stretched her arms above her head. After a long night at the Parfum Palace-which included oversized beds, annoying trips through the maze of hallways to get to the bathroom, and practically hacking into the security system to skip out early- she felt strangely happy to have the simple breakfast of toast and eggs provided by Diachi.

"So," Diachi said, folding his hands. "Did you get it? The flute?"

"Right here," Serena responded, pulling out the flute and holding it out to him. "Had to track down a Furfrou,"

"And climb out the windows and scale the walls," Calem joked, nudging Serena in the ribs with a chuckle.

"But we got it." Serena smiled. Diachi smiled.

"Thank you. Now I have one more favor to ask," Diachi stood, facing the five trainers. "When Snorlax awakes, it will most likely attack in a fit of rage. Are you prepared to fight it?"

"Of course!" Shauna exclaimed happily.

"Now listen, that bridge may become unstable with to much weight. If we aren't careful, it may collapse. So what I suggest is that some of you force the Snorlax towards the Breeders House, where others will fight it and scare it back to the mountains, okay?"

"Got it!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up determinedly.

o.0.o.0.o

"Okay, everyone ready?" Diachi asked, flute in hands, ready to play. Everyone nodded, pokéballs of their respective pokémon in hand. Diachi took a deep breath, and blew into the flute. Truthfully, Serena expected a horrible screeching noise to come from the flute. After all, the melody was said to wake up a Snorlax; the pokémon who could probably sleep through the apocalypse! Bracing herself, she was pleasantly surprised when a soothing, soft melody came out.

"It's beautiful." she said softly to no one in particular. "It sounds more like a lullaby than a song that would wake up a Snorlax."

"I guess the notes sound horrible to a Snorlax." Calem chimed in. "Notice how it consists of mostly high notes? Pokémon's ears are much more sensitive than ours. While this may sound pleasant to us, it might be like nails on a chalkboard to a pokémon." A low rumbling echoed through the air, and the trainers once again braced themselves for the battle.

"Here he comes!" Tierno exclaimed with a gulp. With a roar, Snorlax awoke, rampaging.

"Squirtle, lets go!" Serena exclaimed, calling out the newly acquired water-type. "This'll be our first battle together, so lets do our best!"

"Bulbasaur, same to you!" Calem exclaimed. Serena saw Shauna fighting happily with her Togepi, while Trevor used his Flabébé and Tierno his Corphish. Those three pushed the Snorlax back.

"Alright Seré, Cal!" Shauna exclaimed, waving them over enthusiastically. "Your turn!"

"Water Gun!" Serena ordered.

"Vine Whip!" Calem said, pointing at the huge lumbering pokémon. Snorlax let out a growl, and jumped in the air. Soon, the two trainers suddenly found a huge looming shadow over them.

"Serena, Calem, move!" Trevor exclaimed, his Flabébé falling back to protect the breeding house close to the battle. "That's Body Slam!"

"They'll be crushed under that weight!" exclaimed Shauna. Serena ground her teeth in determination.

"Squirtle, Water Gun!"

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" The two orders went out at the same time, though the attacks did little to stop the lumbering giant. They ran back, the pokémon following their trainers obediently. "Serena, can you order two pokémon at once?" Serena glanced at him.

"I don't know, maybe. I never participated in a double battle before." Serena said.

"Well, lets hope you're a fast learner!" Calem exclaimed. "Go, Flechinder!" he exclaimed. Serena stared at the evolved pokémon, suddenly going into that frozen state of fear again. The birds claws slashed at the Snorlax mercilessly, and she felt her mouth fall open in fear.

_"Daddy doesn't have any bird type pokémon... but he does have a mighty dragonite! Maybe I can convince him and Mama to take us for a ride!" _

_"What?" _Serena thought. This was like when she first met Calem and the others, the voice of an unfamiliar woman, only this time it was that of an unfamiliar young girl. Who was this young girl?

"Seré, watch it!" Calem exclaimed. Serena looked up, and ducked out of the way as Snorlax began throwing random pieces of earth at them.

"Ralts, lets go!" she exclaimed, sending out the psychic-fairy duel type. "Confusion! Squirtle, Bubble!" Snorlax blinked as the two attacks hit him, and then suddenly turned and began attacking in random directions.

"It's confused!" exclaimed Tierno.

"Lets finish this Calem, all together everyone!" Serena said, though still slightly shaky from the Fletchinder so close to her. "Squirtle, Bubble! Ralts, Confusion!"

"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf! Fletchinder, Flame Charge!" Calem ordered. Snorlax got slammed back, and fell over. Slowly, it got up, and with a nod, lumbered off towards the mountains. Everyone stared at this for a moment, before Serena let out a sigh of relief.

"It fled to the mountains." she said under her breath sitting down on the ground with a huff. "Ralts, Squirtle, return."

"Fletchinder!" exclaimed the bird as it flapped his wings like there was no problem at all. Serena blinked, and turned, nearly face-to-face with the bird.

"KYAAAAAA!" she shrieked, scrambling back. The next sentence came out more as a whole word rather than a sentence. "I'm-going-on-to-the-next-town-see-YAAAAAAA!"

o.0.o.0.o

"Interesting. These stones and moss glow naturally on their own, you say?"

"Yes, Professor Oak." an assistant said, watching as the young man moved his hand from the glowing stones.

"What's with the formality? You can just call me Gary, and technically the _actual _Prof. Oak is still around!" The assistant laughed, and Gary turned back towards the glowing stone, then got up and brushed the dirt off his dark washed jeans. Currently, he was wearing a pine green T-shirt under a black jacket with a dark gray hood. Around his neck, like it had been for so many years, was a silver pendant that went just above the neckline of the shirt.

Gary Oak, now twenty-one, had somehow earned the latest title to his already famous name. Now, people across the globe-especially scientists, researchers, and the overall nerd- dubbed him as Prof. Oak instead of his grandfather, whom was still alive and well, researching pokémon to his hearts content. Besides, he didn't want that title; he was happy with the Viridian Gym Leader title, that which was graciously given to him back when he was fifteen by his great girlfriend, Leaf Green.

He could remember it almost like it was yesterday...

"So we need a gym leader here." he said. "Who's it gonna be? Any ideas? Or should we have tryouts or something?"

"That won't be necessary." she said, looking at the completed gym that he had worked so hard on. "I've already got an idea."

"Who?" he asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"You, Shaymin head!" she exclaimed with a laugh.

Gary smiled, running a hand through his infamous spiky hair. Even after five years, it was impossible to tame the mass of chestnut hair. Slowly, though, his smile was replaced with a frown. When was the last time he heard Leafs voice? Or her laugh, for the matter? He let out a low sigh. He'd love to see her again, but his grandfather absolutely _insisted _that he search for a stone here.

Sometimes he wondered how utterly easy it was for the other three to find their Key Stones. Dayna found hers deep in the Viridian Forest, while Fire found his own Key Stone at the bottom of the ocean. As for Leaf, he assumed that she found it in or at the top of Mt. Silver, but he couldn't be quite sure.

"_Just a few more towns, and you'll be in Shalour." _he thought. "_Then you can see Leafy again." _A flash of red caught his eye, and he raised his eyebrows. Weird. A pokémon, maybe? One that comes from Kalos?

"Gary? I'm going to venture down this here cavern? Are you coming?" the assistant asked.

"Oh, no, you go ahead. I'm heading down this direction." Gary answered, squinting his eyes in the darkness. He swore he saw another flash of red. He followed it, coming across very few pokémon. Suddenly, he came upon a brightly lit cavern, filled with mining cars and tracks, illuminated by lanterns. He blinked, going deeper into the cavern. "This must be where they mined out fossils for the lab." he mused, remembering the fossil lab back in the town. He continued down farther, almost as if drawn. Drawn to what, though?

He came upon a certain rock, like any other in the cave. Old and crumbling. But something inside the rock...

"Umbreon," he said, letting out the dark type. "I need you to break this rock, but be careful about it. Something important is inside it." Umbreon nodded, his eyes flashing red for a second, then the stone pulsed in darkness, before splitting apart completely. Gary rummaged carefully through the broken shards, until he found a small piece of amber.

Gary knew full well that pokémon bones can often be petrified within this golden substance, but was surprised to find a small stone entrapped in it. A mega stone? Or even better, a Key Stone? He blinked, seeing a silver chain-strangely shiny and new despite the obvious age of the amber- fall from the top of it, strung through a small hole in the hardened amber. Almost like it was waiting for an owner.

"I'll have to have it analyzed at the lab." he decided, looping the chain around his neck, falling far past the neckline of his shirt. He got up, navigating his way back to the darkened parts of the Glittering Caves.

"Ah, Gary, are you leaving so soon?" the assistant asked. Gary nodded.

"I found something I wanted to analyze," he held up the piece of amber from the chain. "Plus I need to meet up with my friends in Shalour City. If I'm late, I know that I'll never hear the end of it." he smirked at this, remembering how in his past tardinesses due to research, Leaf would look upon him disapprovingly. Then lecturing him for a while before he'd eventually just kiss her to shut her up. That is... if he could even get her to _talk _in the first place.

"It looks like an ordinary stone in an ordinary piece of amber. Did it come on that chain?"

"Yes." Gary replied, allowing the charm to drop, landing against his chest with a dull, barely noticeable thump.

"May be something that was sold in Lumiose City, and a tourist dropped it." he suggested.

"Perhaps. But a little analyzing won't hurt anyone, will it?" Gary teased with a smirk, turning, and raising his hand in a half wave. "I'm going. You staying?"

"Yes, I wanted to search for fossils. Never know when something new will pop up!" Gary chuckled at the assistants enthusiasm, and walked on.

He didn't see anymore flashes of red as he exited the cave.

o.0.o.0.o

Serena didn't simply stop running once she was away from the flying-type. She kept running, and running, and running until she reached a town. She bent over, hands on her knees, huffing and puffing from the sudden and unexpected sprint.

"Hey, Seré!" she turned, and saw Calem jogging up next to her, not even out of breath. She furrowed her brow, slightly annoyed at how out of shape she was.

"Hey... Cal..." she puffed out.

"You sure ran off in a hurry back there." he commented, hands in pockets. "Are you afraid of birds?"

"No!" she exclaimed defensively. Calem raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Fine." she huffed out, standing up straight again. "This never happened before."

"You never came across your fear before?"

"No... I don't know why this is suddenly happening. It's like, whenever I see a bird, I freeze up until someone snaps me out of it. I can speak, but it's like someone cut the cord running from my brain to the rest of my body. And this time, I just ran. I'm not sure what's going on." she shook her head in confusion.

"Maybe it's a psychological thing." Calem suggested. "Like, you see a bird, and your mind freezes."

"Yeah. But what caused this 'psychological thing'?" Serena asked, voice flat. Calem shrugged.

"Trauma? Maybe something happened to you involving birds when you were a kid." Serena wracked her brain for a memory, but couldn't think of anything.

"Sorry, no dice." she sighed.

"Maybe when you were _really _little. Like, two or three?" Serena, again, wracked her brain for memories.

"Nothing." she chuckled under her breath. "I wonder if those weird flashbacks have anything to do with it."

"Flashbacks?" Calem asked, intrigued. Serena felt her face heat up, then she crossed her arms stubbornly.

"I think it was of my Mom when I was little." she answered with a huff. "Maybe a friend, too. I don't remember because they sound different." Calem blinked, catching the irritation in her voice, and decided not to push further.

"Well!" he clapped his hands together to get her attention. "Right now, we're in Ambrette Town. This place was known only for the aquarium, but a lot of fossils were discovered, really putting it on the map. So, lets head to the fossil lab."

"Fossil lab? Why?" Serena asked. Calem put his hands in his pockets, an innocent look on his face.

"Because maybe we'll learn something about those mysterious stones related to Mega Evolution," he held up his Absolite for emphasis. "If we ask them to tell us about Fossils." Serena stared at the stone for a moment, then moved her eyes back to Calem's.

"You keep the Absolite in your pocket?" she asked. Calem shrugged, pocketing the stone again. "Stupid! What if it fell out or something?! You can't get another stone like that!" Calem blinked, leaned down to her eye level, and then playfully flicked her forehead.

"You," he said, standing up straight again. "Worry to much."

"Wha-? I do not!"

"You do." Calem responded, hands in his jacket pockets. "You really do." Serena crossed her arms stubbornly, then turned and walked down the steps with a chuckling Calem behind her.

She did _not _worry to much.

o.0.o.0.o

**Yeah, pretty uneventful chapter. But the next one will be action packed with Team Flare battling!**

**Amy47101 signing off! ^.^**


End file.
